See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams

Spurs record in Europe:-

European Cup

P   W   D   L   F - A
8   4   1   3  21 - 13

(Semi-Finalists 1962)

European Cup Winners Cup

P   W   D   L   F - A
33  20  5   8  65 - 34

(Winners 1963)

UEFA Cup
P   w   D   L   F - A
62 39  13  10  140- 43 

(Winners 1972, 1984
 Finalists 1974)

Total
P    W   D   L   F - A
103 63  19  21  226- 90

Group B Table - Rd 2 (2)
                  P  W  D  L  F-A  Pts
1. Spurs          2  2  0  0  5-1   6
2. D. Bucuresti   1  1  0  0  2-1   3
3. B. Leverkusen  1  0  1  0  1-1   1
4. Club Brugge    2  0  1  1  2-4   1
5. Besiktas       2  0  0  2  1-4   0

For their fifth European game of the season, Spurs travel to Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia region) to face Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The reason for the "04" in the title of the club is to commemorate their founding in 1904.

The football team is in fact just one part (the best known) of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which is a sports club consisting of various disciplines including gymnastics. The name Bayer comes from the proprietor of Friedrich Bayer & Co. Apparently over the early years there was a lot of rancour between the football and gymnastics sections of the clubs, and they split in 1928. Leverkusen played lower league football until 1951, and then had a roller-coaster experience over a number of years. There was also a team that ran by the name of SV 04, stemming from the other half of the split sports club.

In 1984, the two teams were re-united, and after this time, Leverkusen started to win honours, starting with a dramatic UEFA Cup win in 1988 against Espanyol. Leverkusen were 3-0 down after the first leg, levelled the score at home, and then won on penalties! They have since won the German Cup in 1993, have been runners-up in the Budesliga 4 times, and lost the Champions League final in 2002 to Real Madrid.

Leverkusen qualified for this year's UEFA Cup by virtue of their fifth place in the League. They were knocked out in Round One of the UEFA Cup last year. Of course, our own Dimitar Berbatov was signed from Leverkusen, who should give him a warm welcome, after his marvellous goal-scoring exploits for them, particularly in the last two years. Berbatov scored 69 League goals for Leverkusen in 154 appearances. 57 of those goals came in the last three seasons.

Leverkusen have yet to be as convincing as Spurs in their UEFA campaign, having drawn at Club Brugge, and drawing their away leg in Round One. Like Spurs, Leverkusen's league form has been even less convincing. Leverkusen lie 12th in their 18-team League after 13 games, of which the Germans have won 4, drawn 3 and lost 6 games, gaining 15 points. Leverkusen lost 3-2 away to Nurnberg on Saturday, and the week before, lost by the same score at home to Bayern Munich. They have only won 2 of their last 9 games in all competitions. Clearly they are missing Berbatov, as there has been no consistent scorer in that run of recent games.

Leverkusen's top scorer this season has been Ukrainian International Andriy Voronin, who has four goals to his name, including one in the UEFA Cup. They also have Bosnian striker Sergej Barbarez, who has scored three goals. There are two German Internationals in the midfield - Paul Freier and Bernd Schneider. Freier has not been part of the German squad in recent times, but Schneider is a regular and took part in the World Cup last summer. Central defender, and former German International Carsten Ramelow will be another one to watch, as he has weighed in with a couple of goals already this term.

The latest team news is that Aaron Lennon and Pascal Chimbonda have travelled, as have Teemu Tainio and Calum Davenport. Jenas and Stalteri stayed behind though, and I have heard a rumour that Edgar Davids also did not travel. All four forwards are fit, and Martin Jol has sufficient choice to secure at least a point from this game.

I travel early tomorrow morning (Thursday), and I shall be reporting on Friday on what I hope proves to be a result good enough to confirm Spurs qualification to the next phase. A draw would be enough for us, but the hosts will be very keen for a win to give themselves a chance before their journey to Bucharest next week, when Spurs have a midweek break to prepare for the Gooners!

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