Tottenham Hotspur travelled to Italy yesterday with something of a midfield crisis and desperately hoping Rafael van der Vaart would be fit for Wednesday's Champions League football game with AC Milan.
Gareth Bale, who scored a hat-trick last time Spurs were in the city, when they lost 4-3 to Inter in the group phase, misses the last-16, first-leg match with a back injury, while Jermaine Jenas is suspended.
Luka Modric is struggling to make the starting side as he recovers from an operation to remove his appendix less than two weeks ago, piling the pressure on Van der Vaart to overcome a calf strain that kept him out of Sunday's 2-1 Premier League win at Sunderland.
