Tottenham star Gareth Bale: We wouldn't mind avoiding the big guns in Champions League draw

Gareth Bale has insisted that Tottenham are ready to move to the next level and become an elite club after the “massive” achievement of qualifying for the Champions League group stages.

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The Welsh flyer set up all four of Spurs' goals in their 4-0 second leg victory over Young Boys to seal a 6-3 aggregate win and a place in the Champions League group draw at 5pm on Friday in Monaco.

“Qualifying for the Champions League is a massive thing,” said Bale.

“It kind of shows that the club is going forward and means we are playing against even bigger clubs.

“We haven’t entered the competition just to be there. We are really looking forward to it because it’s the first time we’ve been in it. We’ll all have a sit down the next few days and recap everything and see what we want. I don’t think we will be too disappointed in getting some not so big teams.”

Bale accepts that expectations have risen at White Hart Lane as they prepare for their first top-level European adventure in 48 years.

“We have kind of made that for ourselves, finishing fourth,” he observed.

“We either want to do that again or do even better, to be honest. We’ve got the squad to do it. As a club, we want to move forward and get even bigger.”

Bale, who has scored five of Spurs’ last 10 Premier League goals, has taken his magnificent form from the final months of last season into the new campaign.

A left-back by trade, he has been pushed further forward to left midfield and the results have been devastating. Such is the swagger to his game he looks capable of creating havoc against any opposition.

He said: “For me the demands are a little bit different. You are a lot further forward. The role is not that different but you get a lot more licence to attack. It’s better for me. I’m an attacking full-back.

“I’m enjoying my game at the moment, playing every week and enjoying my football. I hope to continue to do that. The team has goalscorers in midfield and up front and is playing well, which is good for everyone.”

Like his good friend and former Southampton room-mate Theo Walcott, Bale prefers to remain low key and does not intend to let the attention from public and media go to his head.

“I don’t really take any notice of it,” he said.

“I’m just me, behaving normally, taking each day as it comes and getting out there doing my best for the team.

“In a way it shows how well I’m playing but I’ve just got to concentrate on my game every week and just produce my best for the team.”