Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has said that he was pleased Gareth Bale received a yellow card against Inter Milan.

His statement came as Spurs put themselves in a strong position last night as they outclassed Inter to earn themselves a three-goal advantage going into the second leg of their Europa League last 16 clash.

Banned

Tottenham’s Welsh wizard was booked for diving last night, and will now miss the second leg of the contest.

However, Villas-Boas was reported in the Daily Star as saying: “He’s a great miss.

“With this result we would have asked him to get the yellow card to be ready for the last eight.

“(Now) we have him cleaned of the cards for the future rounds.”

Bale scored last night to take his tally to 24 goals in all domestic and international competitions this season. Completing the rout for Tottenham were Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jan Vertonghen.

Over-worked rumour mill

The attacker has been the subject of increased speculation surrounding his future at White Hart Lane, and has been linked with clubs such as Manchester City, according to the Daily Mirror.

However, the 23-year-old is developing a reputation as a diver, and has picked up four yellow cards for ‘simulation’ this season.

Bale has consistently claimed that he only dives over the top of tackles as a mechanism for avoiding serious injury.