BBC SPORT | Football | Champions League



By Stuart Roach BBC Sport Online

The manic beam of delight that lit up Christian Gross's face during FC Basle's remarkable Champions League match with Liverpool will, by now, have been replaced by a small smirk of satisfaction.

Match report: FC Basle 3-3 Liverpool

Ecstasy in the first half, relief in the second and, in the afterglow of qualification, the knowledge that a second British scalp had been taken.

Having already held Liverpool at Anfield, Gross's Basle side needed only another draw to qualify - and he made his point in more ways than one.

Christian Gross learned many valuable lessons during his brief spell in English football
Gross has learned from his time in England
With Celtic already having been accounted for in the qualifying round, Gross would have been justifiably satisfied to have despatched of another British side.

Not only has the Swiss coach now proved his Basle side are equal to the challenge of Liverpool, he has also taken another step towards proving to the British football public that he is not nearly so hapless as his ill-fated tenure at Tottenham would suggest.

Gross would argue that he was a victim of circumstance at Spurs.

He lasted only nine months in the hot seat vacated by Gerry Francis and felt he was never given the chance to prove himself.

A Gross miscarriage of justice, perhaps.

Gross's Spurs record

Played: 30

Won: 10

Drew: 8

Lost: 12

Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier has already predicted that Gross, a close friend, would be a success in the much-changed English game.

And that is a sentiment echoed by former Liverpool defender John Scales, who played under Gross at Spurs.

"He couldn't help but be more successful," joked Scales.

"He's older and wiser and has seen how it works in England and how careful you have to be with what you say and how you communicate.

FC Basle's Gimenez beats Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek to score
Gimenez scores Basle's second against Liverpool

"His English wasn't great then so there was a problem with communication that I'm sure is better now.

"He has to have things his own way and he wants the players to be 100% committed to him and be responsive to what he says and how he coaches.

"At Spurs, he didn't get the response he wanted from the players and he alienated himself somewhat," Scales told BBC Sport Online.

Gross has insisted he needed no more incentive than to qualify for the elite last 16, having narrowly failed to achieve that target during his time in charge of Grasshoppers.

And he was more interested in reflecting on the remarkable draw that clinched qualiication than gloating about another British scalp.

Gross said: "I know we were lucky at Anfield, but we showed such quality in this game.

"I am very happy for my players, it was tense but we had played so well beforehand we deserved it.

"This is a tremendous achievement for this club to get to the last 16 of the Champions League."