Europa League: Spurs proud despite quarter-final exit

Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas says his team have "set a great example to the country" by taking the Europa League seriously. Spurs suffered a painful 4-1 penalty shootout defeat by Swiss league leaders Basel after the quarter-final tie had ended 4-4 on aggregate. But the Portuguese manager is proud of the determination his players showed during this season's Europa League campaign. "We made the country feel differently towards the competition," he said. Spurs were held to a 2-2 draw by Basel in the first leg at White Hart Lane and also missed quite a few injured players for the trip to Switzerland, including essential players like Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon. Clint Dempsey scored twice in Switzerland but the visitors finished with 10 men on the pitch after defender Jan Vertonghen was sent off towards the end of normal time. Tottenham survived extra time with a bit of difficulty due to the numerical disadvantage but were defeated by Basel in a penalty shootout with Tom Huddlestone and Emmanuel Adebayor missing from 12 yards. Despite defeat ending his side's hopes of winning a trophy this season, Villas-Boas praised his players for their bravery and for the way they have approached the Europa League, which has been overlooked by most Premier League teams in the past. "We are extremely happy for setting a great example for English football and how to approach this competition," the manager added. "To change the mentality towards this competition from one season to the other is very difficult. They have done it like heroes, played it like heroes because it was never an excuse for underperforming in the Premier League." Of the painful penalty shootout defeat, Villas-Boas said: "Penalties are always very, very difficult. We had assigned the strongest penalty-takers and we practised the penalties. The nature of penalties is very, very difficult and you can never recreate the same stress and emotion in training. They had their preferred slots where to put the ball, but it changes dramatically in live situations." The remaining four teams in the Europa League have the following odds to win it at Bet365: Chelsea - 5/4 Benfica - 15/8 Basel - 6/1 Fenerbahce - 6/1