AVB excited by ‘magnificent’ Inter Milan tie after beating Lyon

Thursday, February 21, 2013
10:03 PM

Andre Villas-Boas set his sights on creating another special Tottenham night against Inter Milan after watching his team grab a dramatic equaliser to move into the last 16 of the Europa League.

Tottenham looked set to crash out of the competition after a dreadful first-half performance which saw Lyon take the lead through Maxine Gonalons.

Despite a period of sustained pressure, Lyon could not break through Tottenham’s back line in the second half, however, but Spurs did themselves no favours by performing poorly up front themselves.

Gareth Bale, matchwinner in the 2-1 first leg win, missed a sitter in the second half, but Mousa Dembele saved the Welshman’s blushes with a brilliant last minute strike from 25 yards.

Spurs will now face Inter Milan - the team against which Bale pulled out two career-defining performances two seasons ago - in the third round next month. Bale scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 loss at the San Siro in 2010, and then embarrassed Maicon with a stunning display in the opposing fixture.

“We had two magnificent games against Inter and we just want to recreate a special night that everyone remembers at the club,” the Tottenham manager said.

“Going through against Inter Milan and Lyon puts you in a good place to win the competition.”