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The draws for the quarterfinals of the Europa League were made this morning in Nyon, France, and Tottenham Hotspur were drawn against Switzerland side FC Basel 1893. This will be the first ever meeting between Tottenham and FCB.
What do we know about FC Basel? At first glance, this appears to be the easiest draw out of the remaining Europa League participants. It's certainly chief among the teams that most Spurs fans wanted to play in this round. However, "Baselona" (pejoratively named from their red, blue, and yellow kits) are no slouches. The reigning Swiss champions, Basel has won the Swiss Super League 15 times, and have competed in European competition every year since 1999. They finished second in Group G behind Genk, and dispatched Dnipro and Zenit St. Petersburg (you know, that team with Hulk, Axel Witsel, and Bruno Alves) to reach the quarterfinals. They're led by forward Marco Streller, who has 16 goals in all competitions, and all-time leading Swiss international scorer Alexander Frei. This team can play, and Tottenham will have to bring a much better game than that which they showed Inter Milan last night to progress past them.
Full Europa League Quarterfinal Draw
Chelsea FC (ENG) v FC Rubin Kazan (RUS)
Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) v FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) v S.S. Lazio (ITA)
SL Benfica (POR) v Newcastle United FC (ENG)
The games will take place Thursday, April 4 (Home) and Thursday, April 11 (Away). The Europa League final will take place Wednesday, May 15 at Amsterdam Arena.