SportBaselgareth baleMousa Dembele

Tottenham Train Ahead Of Europa League Quarter-Final With Basel (PICTURES)

Bromantic Bale Ready For Basel
The Huffington Post UK

Gareth Bale and Mousa Dembélé didn't appear daunted by an European imminent quarter-final as Tottenham were put through their paces one last time before Thursday night's Europa League tie with Basel.

After scraping past Internazionale on away goals despite an enthralling 4-1 loss in Milan, Spurs are well placed to reach their first European semi-final since 1984, when they last won the Uefa Cup.

André Villas-Boas's side halted their collapse at the weekend with an impressive 2-1 win at Swansea to remain in the Premier League's top four, with Everton on the agenda this Sunday.

Tottenham Training
Soccer - UEFA Europa League - Quarter Final - First Leg - Tottenham v FC Basel - Tottenham Training and Press Conference - Enfield Training Ground(01 of10)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale (left) and Mousa Dembele (centre) during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale (left) and Mousa Dembele during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale mimics playing a defensive cricket shot as the ball comes towards him during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale (right) and Jan Vertonghen (left) during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Jermain Defoe (left) and Steven Caulker during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale mimics playing a defensive cricket shot as the ball comes towards him during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Scott Parker (centre, no 8) during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Emmanuel Adebayor (centre) is watched by Gareth Bale (right) during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Benoit Assou-Ekotto during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)
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Tottenham Hotspur's Tom Huddlestone (centre) has a laugh with Jake Livermore (left) as Michael Dawson (right) looks on during the training session at Enfield Training Ground, Enfield. (credit:PA)

The last time Spurs faced Swiss opposition was their 2010 Champions League group stage qualifier against Young Boys, when they eventually prevailed 6-3 on aggregate having gone behind 3-0 inside the opening 28 minutes of the first leg.

Tottenham's most recent quarter-finals in European competition have also ended disastrously. After a credible 2-1 defeat away at Sevilla in the Uefa Cup in 2007, the Spaniards raced into a 2-0 lead after eight minutes in the return leg and progressed 4-3 on aggregate.

And in the 2011 Champions League they were battered 4-0 in the Bernabéu by Real Madrid, as Peter Crouch was sent off. A Heurelho Gomes clanger at White Hart Lane gifted Cristiano Ronaldo the winner for a 5-0 Madrid win over both games.

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