Tottenham Hotspur head into tonight's Champions League play-off second leg against Young Boys of Berne knowing they are fortunate to even be in with a chance of progressing to the group stage. Young Boys travel to White Hart Lane having shocked Tottenham in the first leg, going three goals up within half an hour as the north London side struggled to adapt to the artificial surface at the Stade de Suisse stadium.
Harry Redknapp's side recovered through goals from Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavlyuchenko to end the first leg just 3-2 down. That result means Spurs need to beat their Swiss opponents in the second leg, to go through to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League. But even though Redknapp admits Tottenham "came back from the dead", the manager is well aware they still face an uphill task.
"We've got the advantage of two away goals and we need to go out there and win the game," Redknapp said. "We've got a big chance. It won't be easy, but we've come back from the dead after being 3-0 down." Redknapp has a lengthy injury list to contend with ahead of the Young Boys fixture, as three of his strikers, Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and Pavlyuchenko, along with Luka Modric, the midfielder, all sat out the Premier League game against Stoke on Saturday.
The Spurs boss believes Defoe is the most likely to recover in time for the Young Boys game, saying: "Defoe probably has the best chance, but the others could be struggling. Pavlyuchenko will have an injection. Robbie Keane's got a knee problem. I'm sure one of them will be fit." If Defoe or the other strikers do not prove their fitness, Redknapp could go for the same formation as he did against Stoke, with Peter Crouch employed as a lone forward. Bale and Aaron Lennon, the wide men, were given the freedom to get forward and support the England man - or, as was shown on Saturday, to score themselves as Bale hit two.
William Gallas, the former Chelsea and Arsenal centre-back who signed for Spurs a one-year deal as a free agent on Sunday, will not be eligible to face Young Boys. The Swiss side are confident they can prevail in the second leg, but insist they will not go to White Hart Lane content merely to protect their lead. "We still want to advance. I think the first leg showed us that we have chances to go through," said David Degen, the Switzerland midfielder.
"I am sure we can score a goal or even two in London and I certainly think we still have our chances." There are four other ties tonight to see who makes the group stage. FC Zilina, the Slovakian side, have the most reason to be confident as they take a 2-0 advantage into their second leg at home against Sparta Prague of the Czech Republic. Auxerre, of France, will want to make the most of home advantage as they look to cancel out the one goal deficit by which they trail Zenit St Petersburg after the Russian side won the first leg 1-0.
FC Copenhagen also have work to do. The Danes trail Norwegian opponents Rosenborg 2-1 going into tonight's leg. Ajax hold the edge in their tie with Dynamo Kiev. The sides drew 1-1 in Russia last weekend, and Kiev know they have to score tonight otherwise the Dutch side can progress on the back of the away goals rule. * Agencies
