A late equaliser from Christian Gimenez allowed Basle to snatch a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup final tonight.
Veteran midfielder Paul Merson gave the visitors the lead when he exploited a mistake by Basle goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuehler to open the scoring in the 59th minute.
But Basle, coached by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Christina Gross, equalised when Gimenez tapped in the rebound after Villa keeper Peter Enckelman parried substitute Carlos Varela's shot in the 75th minute.
The winners of the return leg in Birmingham on August 21 will qualify for the UEFA Cup.
In tonights other Intertoto Cup finals Newcastle drew 0-0 away with Troyes while PSG drew 0-0 with Brescia -Reuters
