We would have asked Bale to get booked, says Tottenham boss AVB

André Villas-Boas says he would have asked Gareth Bale to pick up a yellow card if the Tottenham winger had not been booked for diving in Thursday’s win over Inter Milan.

Bale, who opened the scoring as Spurs cantered to a 3-0 victory over the Serie A side in the Europa League last-16 first leg, was shown a yellow card for simulation and will miss the return leg at San Siro next week.

But Villas-Boas was glad to see the 23-year-old pick up a booking because the Welshman will sit out next week’s tie rather than risk picking up a suspension for the quarter-finals.

“Gareth will obviously be a great miss,” Villas-Boas said.

“But had we known we’d get this result we would have asked him to get the yellow card to be clean and to be ready for the last eight.

“It’s not finished but we are in a good position.

“Gareth has been influential in consecutive games but hopefully we can make it without him and go through to the last eight.”

Open a bet365 account with £10 or more and you'll get a free bet of up to £200 on us. Click here for more information.

Like The Sport Review on Facebook:

Read more on: André Villas-Boas, europa league, gareth bale, inter milan, Tottenham Hotspur.