Having won the first leg in London 3-0 last week, Villas-Boas' side were given a scare after Inter levelled the tie and forced extra-time at the San Siro on Thursday.

Spurs eventually advanced to the quarter-finals on away goals thanks to an Emmanuel Adebayor effort in the first period of additional time.

Despite being comprehensively outplayed in Milan, Villas-Boas says Spurs can still take positives from the match.

"I think today what happened to us was like what happened to Inter in London," the Portuguese said.

"Neither Inter was as bad as the performance that they showed in London. We weren't as bad as the performance showed today.

"There's lots of positives in an evening like this because when the desire is there to reach the last eight - it was always there from the players - even in extra-time which was an excellent sign for us."

While putting a positive spin on the outcome, Villas-Boas conceded frailties in defence put his side on the brink of elimination.

The former Chelsea manager also paid tribute to a much-improved Inter side.

"I think the organisation wasn't there because the mind wasn't there," Villas-Boas said.

"Every goal for Inter was motivational for them and a knife in the back for us and we had lots of problems in organisation, they did extremely well. That's why we had a hard game."