If Tottenham Hotspur had been given their choice of opponent when the draw for the Champions League final qualifying round was made two weeks ago, they probably would have picked Young Boys of Berne. European heavyweights such as Sevilla, Zenit St Petersburg and Dynamo Kiev were also in the hat for Uefa's non-champions path to the tournaments group stages. Young Boys reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1959, but recent performances of teams from Switzerland suggests they should not present to much of a challenge for a Spurs team packed with internationals.
The English club have never played Champions League football, but some of the squad have. One of those is Heurelho Gomes, the Brazilian goalkeeper signed from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven two seasons ago, and he cannot wait to step back into the Champions League arena. Gomes was part of the PSV side that reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2005, losing to AC Milan. The goalkeeper enjoyed an outstanding campaign last season, after a much-criticised beginning to his time at White Hart Lane, which included a few high-profile handling errors. But he was part of the side that beat Manchester City to fourth place in the Premier League last season, qualifying for a two-legged Champions League play-off in the process.
The first leg is at the Stade de Suisse in Berne tonight, with the second leg a week later. "It's great to be in the Champions League again," Gomestold Tottenham's official website. "I played in it for four years at PSV and I know how good it is, it's amazing to play Champions League with Tottenham now. "We deserve it. We showed a lot of quality last season, improved a lot and now we'll see how good it is. It's the most important club competition in the world."
Despite their lack of European pedigree, Young Boys beat Turkish side Fenerbahce away in the previous round. "They did really well to beat Fenerbahce. We all hope to get past them, but we know it will be difficult," said Gomes. * Agency Young Boys v Tottenham, 10.45pm, Aljazeera Sport +3 and +4