Tottenham face Young Boys in Champions League qualifier
Tottenham Hotspur will be confident of reaching the Champions League group stages after a fortunate play-off round draw, which will see the Premier League club take on Swiss side Young Boys.
Harry Redknapp’s side avoided the likes of Dynamo Kiev, Sampdoria and conquerors of Celtic, Braga; and now play Young Boys twice over the forthcoming weeks.
First, Spurs will travel to Switzerland for the opening leg, before heading back to White Hart Lane for the return match a week later.
Young Boys, who play their home matches at the Stade de Suisse in Bern, finished second in the Swiss Super League last season behind Basel, and will be hoping to reach the group stages of the Champions League for the first time in its current format.
Back in 1959, Young Boys reached the semi-final of the European Cup, in what was perhaps their finest moment. They will be relishing the opportunity of facing Tottenham for a place in the group stages; and after defeating Turkish giants Fenerbahçe in the previous round, the Swiss side have every right to feel confident.
It will be the first time that the two clubs have met, but it’s Tottenham who go into the first match as favourites after finishing fourth in last season’s Premier League table.
One cause for concern for Redknapp, though, is that Young Boys kicked off their domestic season last month, and they’ll be in full flow by the time they face Spurs. The English side will need to get out of the traps quickly if they’re to produce their best football against the Swiss team. Anything less and they could find themselves on the wrong end of a shock defeat.
Meanwhile, Ajax will face Dynamo Kiev and Werder Bremen take on Sampdoria in two of the play-off round’s standout ties. Elsewhere, Russian side Zenit St Petersburg were drawn to play Auxerre and Braga will take on the revered Sevilla.
Uefa Champions League play-off draw in full:
Young Boys (SUI) v Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Sporting Braga (POR) v Sevilla (ESP)
Werder Bremen (GER) v Sampdoria (ITA)
Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v Auxerre (FRA)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) Ajax (NED)
Salzburg (AUT) v Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Rosenborg (NOR) v Copenhagen (DEN)
Basel (SUI) v FC Sheriff (MDA)
Sparta Prague (CZE) v MSK Zilina (SVK)
Partizan Belgrade (SRB) v Anderlecht (BEL)
The draw for the final qualifying round of the Europa League was also made this morning.
Liverpool were eagerly awaiting the name of their play-off round opponents, and have been handed a tricky tie against Turkish side Trabzonspor.
Few teams enjoy the hostile trip to Turkey, and the Reds, under their new manager Roy Hodgson, will be no different.
Tags: