Tottenham target group-stage reward

Tottenham Hotspur FC welcome BSC Young Boys to north London for the conclusion of their UEFA Champions League play-off tie holding a good chance of gaining a place in the group stage for the first time despite a disastrous opening half-hour in the first leg.

• Harry Redknapp's side were 3-0 down with 28 minutes on the clock at the Stade de Suisse thanks to goals from Senad Lulić (4 minutes), Henri Bienvenu (13) and Xavier Hochstrasser but strikes either side of the interval from Sébastien Bassong (42) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (83) revived their challenge.

• The English side have featured just once in the European Champion Clubs' Cup – although they did make a significant impact on their sole previous appearance, reaching the semi-finals in 1961/62 before a 4-3 aggregate defeat by SL Benfica.

• Tottenham won three of their four home games in the competition that season, scoring 15 goals in the process although they conceded once in each match.

• Young Boys have barely featured in the competition since its early years. They lost 5-2 on aggregate to FK Crvena Zvezda in the 2004/05 second qualifying round and went down 5-1 over two legs to Real Madrid CF in the 1986/87 European Cup first round – although they did have the consolation of a 1-0 home win against the Spanish giants in the first leg.

• Those ties apart, Young Boys' sole experience of the European Cup came between 1957 and 1960, with a semi-final in 1958/59 – losing 3-1 to Stade de Reims Champagne over two legs – and first-round exits in 1957/58, 1959/60 and 1960/61.

• In 2009/10, Young Boys won 1-0 at Athletic Club in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round but lost 2-1 at home to bow out while Tottenham did not feature in UEFA competition.

• This time round, the Berne club – second in the Swiss Super League last season – won 1-0 at Fenerbahçe SK in the third qualifying round second leg to complete a 3-2 aggregate triumph. Tottenham qualified automatically for the play-off round having finished fourth in the Premier League in 2009/10.

Match background
• The sides had never met before the first leg, although Tottenham were paired with Grasshopper-Club in the 1973/74 UEFA Cup first round and emerged comfortable winners, a 5-1 win in Zurich preceding a 4-1 triumph in north London.

• It was a different story when they drew FC Luzern in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup group stage, the Swiss side running out 2-0 winners in Brighton.

• Young Boys had never before faced English opposition in UEFA competition prior to the first game with Tottenham. They were drawn to face Manchester United FC in the 1958/59 European Cup preliminary round but progressed on a walkover after United withdrew.

Team ties
• Young Boys defender Scott Sutter was born in the London suburb of Enfield and grew up as a Tottenham fan. "It was amazing for me when I was watching the draw with my dad and the first two names out were ours and Tottenham," Sutter said. "I jumped up and punched the air. The club I support and once had a season ticket for; I can finally play at White Hart Lane. It couldn't get any better."

• Jermaine Jenas scored England's first goal in a 2-1 friendly win against Switzerland on 6 February 2008, Fabio Capello's first game in charge. David Bentley also started with Peter Crouch a second-half substitute, while Christoph Spycher was in the Switzerland team.

• David Degen scored FC Basel 1893's second goal in their 2-0 win against Middlesbrough FC in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg, although it was the English side who progressed on aggregate following a 4-1 triumph in the return.