Tue 17 August 2010
BSC Young Boys beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 at the Stade de Suisse, Bern in Switzerland for the Champions League play-off
Tottenham Hotspur had never qualified for the Champions League in their club’s history and this was a golden opportunity for Harry Redknapp to make history, as Spurs met Young Boys from Switzerland for the first leg of the Champions League play-off round.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp stuck to basics last season and made sure that Tottenham finished fourth in the 2009-10 season, ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool. Redknapp did everything right in the Premier League, but Champions League is a different ball game all together and Mr. Harry has learnt it the hard way.
Last EPL season (2009-10), Spurs scored a total of 67 goals (fifth highest in the League), but conceded 41 goals (61%). With Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate’s injury seems never ending; Harry Redknapp has got a big hole in his back four.
Due to the astroturf pitch at the Stade de Suisse, Redknapp had to leave out Aaron Lennon, Robbie Keane and Tom Huddlestone on the bench.
If you were a Tottenham Hotspur supporter/fan, then you wished you did not watch the first 30 minutes of the match.
Bosnia and Herzegovinian midfielder Senad Lulić, gave the Young Boys the lead with just four minutes on the clock. In the 13th minute, Henri Bienvenu doubled Young Boys’ lead and on the half an hour mark Xavier Hochstrasser made it 3-0 for the home side.
Just when it looked like the beginning of the end for Spurs, former Newcastle United defender Sébastien Bassong pulled one back for Tottenham just before half time through a corner by Gareth Bale.
In the second half, Niko Kranjcar and Robbie Keane were brought in by manager Harry Redknapp in place of Jermain Defoe and the disappointing Luka Modric. It took until the 83rd minute for Spurs to get their second goal through a screamer from Roman Pavlyuchenko.
It ended 3-2 to BSC Young Boys and Tottenham Hotspur suffered their first Champions League defeat on debut. The second leg will be held at White Hart Lane in London on 25th August 2010.
With two away goals and playing at home, Tottenham Hotspur would hold a better advantage over the Young Boys and at White Hart Lane, Harry Redknapp won’t have any (astroturf) excuse what-so-ever.
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