Middlesbrough score Basle in UEFA draw

Middlesbrough will face Basle in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals after the draw in Eindhoven today.

If they beat the Swiss club over two legs, Boro will face the winner of the Romanian capital derby between Rapid Bucharest and Steaua Bucharest in the semi-finals.

Basle are coached by former Tottenham boss Christian Gross and are the current Swiss league leaders.

They finished only third in their qualifying group but have since beaten Monaco and Strasbourg.

This is Boro’s second season in Europe, and they have surpassed the achievements of last year when they lost to Sporting Lisbon in the last 16.

The other quarter-finals see Sevilla face Zenit St Petersburg, Rapid take on Steaua, and Levski Sofia play Schalke.

The games will be staged on March 30th and April 6th, with Boro’s first leg in Switzerland.

The semi-finals take place on April 20th and 27th, and the final will be in Eindhoven on May 10th.

Boro reached the last eight after an away-goals victory over Italian giants Roma, who they beat 1-0 at the Riverside before losing 2-1 in the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.

Since topping their first-round group, Steve McClaren’s side have also knocked out German outfit Stuttgart - also on away goals after another 2-2 aggregate stalemate.

Captain Gareth Southgate spoke of "the best night in the club’s history" after Roma were knocked out, and Boro now have a strong chance of winning their first European trophy.

Last year’s winners CSKA Moscow were eliminated in the group stages.