Tottenham Hotspur have one leg in the Europa League quarter-finals after an impressive 3-0 dismantling of Inter Milan at White Hart Lane tonight.
Gareth Bale with his 21st of the season, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen were all on target in a one-sided match.
It was not a good night for Spurs’ London rivals Chelsea, who lost 1-0 at FC Steaua Bucureşti with Raul Rusescu scoring the only goal from the penalty spot. The Blues, who face Manchester United in the FA Cup on Sunday, were poor and will have to play a lot better in the second leg if they are to join the elite band of clubs to have won the full set of European Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League.
It was a much easier night for Lazio who surprisingly won 2-0 against Stuttgart, Ederson and Ogenyi Onazi putting the Italian side in pole position ahead of next week’s return in Germany.
Fenerbahçe picked up a vital away victory as well, winning 1-0 in the Czech Republic to end Viktoria Plzeň’s nine-game unbeaten home run in Europe.
Benfica also moved tentatively towards a third appearance in the last eight in four seasons, Cédric Carrasso’s own goal earning them a slender first-leg cushion over Bordeaux. As for Basel, they lead Zenit St Petersburg 2-0 courtesy of late goals from Marcelo Díaz and Alexander Frei.