• Champions League

Basel poke fun at Liverpool's Champions League exit

Basel made the most of their latest 'giantkilling' with this Instagram post © Instagram/fcbasel1893_offiziell

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Swiss champions Basel appear to have tired of being seen as European minnows by English clubs and have taken a cheeky swipe at Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham after landing their latest blow in the Champions League.

They progressed to the group stage of the competition on Tuesday night thanks to the 1-1 draw at Anfield that eliminated Liverpool.

Basel, who took four points from Liverpool in Group B, also beat Chelsea twice in last season's competition and knocked Spurs out of the Europa League in 2012-13.

They underlined their success in Europe by posting a cheeky Instagram cartoon (above) on Tuesday before deleting it on Wednesday morning after it drew an angry response on social media.

Paulo Sousa, the Basel coach, said after their draw at Anfield: "For me and my staff, and especially the players, it's about creating more history for this great club. It means we are moving in the right direction to achieve important things.

"As a club, it gives us an opportunity to challenge the best teams. This is where we want to be and competing like we did today, in these sorts of environments with our fantastic fans, who believed in what we were doing.

"Our game plan was perfect. Coming here to Anfield and showing the personality in our game ... I'm more proud of my team for the way they expressed themselves, the intensity they showed on the pitch, their belief and ability to make the right decisions.

Basel, 17-time Swiss champions, also made the Champions League knockout stages in 2012 but failed to progress from their group last year.

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