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- May 20, 2005
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Tottenham Hotspur VS BSC Young Boys
Uefa Champions League play-off second leg
Venue: White Hart Lane Date: Wednesday, 25 August Kick-off: 1945 BST
Venue: White Hart Lane Date: Wednesday, 25 August Kick-off: 1945 BST
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Sport website; Live text commentary on BBC Sport website & mobiles; Also live on ITV1
For more details on coverage please check out Geez's Live Media Thread Click Here
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2[ar]
1-0 will do for Spurs to reach promised land
Tottenham head into their UEFA Champions League qualifier on Wednesday against Young Boys hoping to avoid a disastrous exit at the first hurdle of the competition.
Harry Redknapp's side trail 3-2 to the Swiss outfit following an initial nightmare in the corresponding fixture in Bern where they found themselves three goals down within the first half hour.
The defence were ran ragged by the pace and movement of their opponents, but replied well through Sebastien Bassong
Spurs need just a 1-0 victory to get to the group stage at White Hart Lane, something that is certainly in their reach with the talent available to them.
They have enjoyed a decent start in the Premier League too, but Redknapp will be keen to see his side go out and stamp their authority on a game where they could very easily come unstuck against a side with nothing to lose.
Young Boys, and in particular Swiss winger David Degen, were too quick for the North Londoners at times, and could cause some real damage on the counter-attack.
It is undoubtedly one of the biggest nights in the club's recent history, and they will be desperate not to disappoint in their chance to qualify for the modern version of the European Cup for the first time.
Team news
Redknapp is likely to start with Jermain Defoeup front, despite the player admitting he will have to go for groin surgery following the game and is likely to be out for a month.
Luka Modric is a definite absentee however after failing to recover from a groin problem suffered in the first leg.
Giovani dos Santos, Robbie Keane and Pavlyuchenko all picked up knocks in the game as well, however were in training on Wednesday morning and ready to play a part.
Young Boys boss Vladimir Petkovic's only injury absentees come in the form of defenders Emiliano Dudar and Hassan Lingani, both of whom did not feature in the first leg
2[ar]
Tottenham will be boosted by the return to fitness of four of their attackers ahead of the crunch Champions League play-off second leg against Young Boys.
Roman Pavyluchenko, Giovani dos Santos, Robbie Keane, and Jermain Defoe are all expected to be available after missing Saturday's Premier League win at Stoke.
New signing William Gallas is not eligible to play in this round.
And Luka Modric (groin) will also miss out as Tottenham look to hit back from their 3-2 first-leg defeat.
However, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp insists the loss of Croatia playmaker Modric will not hamper his side.
"Modric is a top player, but we've coped well without him before - for a long spell last season, and we were without him against Stoke on Saturday when we were outstanding - so we'll be OK," he said.
The Croat joins long-term absentees Jamie O'Hara (back), David Bentley (ankle) and Jonathan Woodgate (groin) on the sidelines for what promises to be a crucial match in the north Londoners' season.
Even though Defoe is available, Redknapp said he would only play for part of the game at best after revealing the striker would undergo surgery next week on a groin problem that he has been suffering from since the World Cup.
A win would hand Spurs their Champions League group stage debut, but defeat for Redknapp's men would drop them into the Europa League and undo many of their achievements of last season when they broke into the Premier League's top four for the first time.
Despite finding themselves 3-0 down inside the first 28 minutes in Switzerland last week, the men from White Hart Lane go into Wednesday's second leg as slight favourites.
2[ar]
Senad Lulic, Henri Bienvenu and Xavier Hochstrasser had given Young Boys the perfect start.
However, goals from Sebastien Bassong and, crucially late in the game, Pavlyuchenko not only reduced the arrears to a single goal but also provided two potentially vital away goals.
And Tottenham will not have to deal with the artificial pitch that caused their players such problems in the first leg.
"It's a big game, a massive game, and I'm sure it'll be difficult," added Redknapp. "But we've given ourselves a big chance with those two goals - at 3-0 it looked like goodnight, but we're still bang in the tie and we have a great shot at progressing.
"We're at home and we're a fantastic team at home. The first half against Manchester City in the first game of the [Premier League]season was as good as you'd have seen a Tottenham side play for many years.
"We need to win the game. If we can't win tomorrow from the position we're in now, we don't deserve to be in the group stages do we? What hope would we have in the group stages if we can't win tomorrow?
"If we play as we can do, I don't see any reason why we can't win.
"We've got to get after them early, set them back. We've got to swarm all over them if we can. I'm not going to sit here and say we need to be patient or whatever, we have to start with a high intensity and put them under pressure.
"It won't be easy, of course, they are a good side and they can play, but we'll make it an intimidating atmosphere and I'm sure the fans will play their part in helping us make it a sensational night at White Hart Lane."
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