Match Background: Spurs vs Inter Milan

• Inter’s Rodrigo Palacio is level with Lazio’s Libor Kozák and Raúl Bobadilla – who has moved to FC Basel 1893 since scoring five in the group stage for BSC Young Boys – in second place in this season’s UEFA Europa League scorers rankings, with five goals each. SSC Napoli’s Edinson Cavani tops the table with seven.

• Javier Zanetti has played in 48 UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League games and 158 UEFA club matches – both more than any other player still involved.

• Tottenham defenders Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Walker are the only players from either side to have played all 720 minutes of their team’s eight games since the start of the group stage.

• Villas-Boas received his first break in coaching as a teenager from then Porto boss Sir Bobby Robson, and later assisted José Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea FC and Inter before striking out alone at A. Académica de Coimbra and then leading Porto to a domestic double and the UEFA Cup in 2010/11. A move to Chelsea that summer proved to be ill-fated, before he took charge at Tottenham in July 2012.

• Inter’s coach is Andrea Stramaccioni, who stepped in on a caretaker basis to replace Claudio Ranieri last March and was then handed a contract for the 2012/13 campaign. A defender whose career was cut short by a serious injury at Bologna FC, he specialised in coaching youth teams, taking charge of the Roma and then Inter junior selections before getting the senior job.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know