Europa League - Bale stretchered off as Tottenham draw with Basel

Europa League - Bale stretchered off as Tottenham draw with Basel - Europa League quarter-final first leg, White Hart Lane - Tottenham 2 (Adebayor 40, Sigurdsson 58) Basel 2 (Stocker 30, Frei 35)

Tottenham came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Basel in their Europa League quarter-final first leg at White Hart Lane but lost Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Williams Gallas to injury.

Welsh talisman Bale caught his ankle on the pitch going in awkwardly for a challenge in stoppage time at the end of an all-action encounter, and looked to be in a great deal of pain clutching his ankle as he was carried off on a stretcher.

Tottenham's Gareth Bale in action against Basel (AFP)

Spurs also had Gallas forced from action near the end, while substitute Lennon had to go off in the first half just before the Swiss side tore the Londoners apart on the counter-attack.

Valentin Stocker broke the deadlock after a great move forward on the half hour before Fabian Frei doubled their advantage only five minutes later.

Emmanuel Adebayor pulled one back before the break before Gylfi Sigurdsson, on in place of Lennon, equalised with a great, deflected, distance drive.

Though Tottenham began another opening leg at home in a confident manner, in hopes of replicating their impressive White Hart Lane result in the previous round, they were found wanting at the back more than once by Basel’s crisp counters.

Though Bale and Kyle Naughton had good early chances for the hosts, it was Swiss prospect Stocker, looking dangerous playing behind and around striker Marco Streller, who broke the deadlock.

Beginning a push forward after the ball fell fortuitously from a ricochet, Stocker sent the lively Mohamed Salah free on the right to deliver a low centre to Streller.

The veteran’s turn and first touch were a treat, and though his eventual shot came back off the far post, Stocker was there to convert the rebound.

Things went from bad to worse for Andre Villas-Boas’s side as Basel made it two goals in five minutes with a completely preventable set-piece goal.

As a corner came off Jan Vertoghen at the near post, Frei escaped marker Naughton in the meantime and guided a header into the bottom corner.

To their credit, Spurs kept trying to create and pulled one back five minutes after going two down when Scott Parker’s pass-cum-shot fell into the path of Adebayor, who kept the volley down just enough to find the roof of Yann Sommer’s net.

Parker should have added a goal to his assist just two minutes later, but after Sommer denied Lewis Holtby from converting Sigurdsson’s killer ball into the box, the midfielder somehow missed an open goal from six yards out.

Naughton, looking to make amends for his role in Basel’s second, forced a dramatic late save from Sommer as his wonderful 35-yard effort curled away from the keeper.

And shortly after, the outside-the-box approach paid off for the Premier League side as Sigurdsson came inside from the left, skipping past two opponents, before unleashing a wicked drive which wrong-footed the Swiss stopper via a deflection from Fabian Schar.

All things considered, Tottenham would have been happy to just hear the final whistle and begin to plot a route to victory abroad with a number of players back in contention.

But after Gallas, who had taken his fair share of knocks throughout, finally had to withdraw just short of the regulation 90, Bale’s worrying late injury makes it a triple concern – with of course the free-scoring attacker the biggest worry of all.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Valentin Stocker (Basel): Proved an absolute handful for the rickety Spurs back line playing behind the hard-working Streller. Will be the one to watch in the second leg.

PLAYER RATINGS

TOTTENHAM : Friedel 6, Naughton 5, Gallas 5, Vertonghen 6, Assou-Ekotto 5, Lennon 5, Parker 6, Dembélé 7, Holtby 7, Bale 6, Adebayor 6; Subs: Dawson 7, Sigurdsson 7, Dempsey 5.

BASEL : Sommer 7, Steinhöfer 7, Schär 6, Dragovic 7, Voser 5, El-Nenny 6, Serey Die 6, Salah 8, F. Frei 7, Stocker 8, Streller 8; Subs: Degen n/a, Cabral 5, Zoua 6.

Eurosport

READ MORE - Europa League - Bale stretchered off as Tottenham draw with Basel

Paper Round: Carroll offered Anfield lifeline

Premier League - Paper Round: Carroll offered Anfield lifeline - Andy Carroll, marginalised and loaned out of Liverpool by manager Brendan Rodgers, has an opportunity to return, claims the Daily Mirror.

But any Liverpool comeback, the paper adds, would be contingent on two things - Carroll accepting a role as an impact substitute, and undergoing a personalised medical programme.

The report says the £35m man, who is spending the season at West Ham United, has not done enough to convince the Hammers to sign him up full-time.

That might come as something of a surprise to those who watched the 24-year-old torment West Brom at the weekend with a powerful brace of goals, but he only has five goals in 21 appearances this season and has also battled with injuries.

Eurosport - West Ham's English striker Andy Carroll celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion at Upton Park in east London on March 30, 2013 

West Ham have an option to buy as part of their loan agreement, but appear to be looking elsewhere, with Wilfried Bony rumoured to be the striker they want to lead the line next season.

Rodgers and Carroll are set to talk about his Anfield future, and if the target man agrees to a personalised fitness programme and a limited role within the team, he has a chance to resurrect his career with the club.

Tottenham are another club with a striker shuffle in mind – the Daily Star says that they are set to negotiate with Aston Villa over the £15m sale of Christian Benteke.

While Spurs know Villa’s bargaining position will be weakened if the Belgian’s club are relegated, the flip side is that he could be the subject of a bidding war, with several top clubs impressed by his performances this season.

In addition, the paper breathlessly adds, Emmanuel Adebayor could be on his way out of White Hart Lane, Jermain Defoe’s injury worries mean that Spurs would be prepared to sell him for the right price, while Leandro Damiao remains a target.

The Wayne Rooney to Paris Saint-Germain story remains on the back pages – The Sun boasts a ‘world exclusive’ that Zlatan Ibrahimovic wants him to join him in Paris.

“If he wants to be part of the best project in football then there is only one club to sign for,” Ibrahimovic reportedly said.

“Only he knows the decision he is going to make in the summer but the project we are trying to build here is clear.

“We are not content with being the dominant force in France, we want to be the top club in Europe as well.

“I can understand why the owners are interested in Rooney — he is in the top 10 of strikers in Europe.”

The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, says that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are all ready to swoop for Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany should the defender’s row with his manager escalate to the point that the Belgian wants out of the club.

Right then - you've now read a couple of hundred words about what’s in the papers without mention of Paolo Di Canio. Feels good, right? We're afraid that feeling of relief ends here, however.

As much as Di Canio fatigue is setting in, Paper Round's job is to tell you what’s in the papers, and many of the back pages are leading on his belated clarification that he is not, nor has ever been, a fascist.

End of the saga, then?

Not quite.

The Sun brings us Rio Ferdinand’s view on Di Canio – and he reckons the Italian is an ‘absolute idiot’.

Or at least, he did once – in his 2006 autobiography.

When you think about it, using quotes in a 2006 autobiography to counter a quote from 2005 dragged up again this week is actually strangely fitting.

Elsewhere the Daily Mail ask why the Italian was at the funeral of an Italian terrorist bomber, and why he has a tattoo of Benito Mussolini.

The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, brands his appointment at Sunderland as the ‘most botched recruitment in Premier League history’, suggesting that this story will run and run – at least until there’s some football to play.

Eurosport – 2 hours 23 minutes ago

READ MORE - Paper Round: Carroll offered Anfield lifeline