After the cup final this weekend (they should really move it back until the season's over), the league continues with round 11. There are only 3 rounds left after this one... Friday Grasshoppers vs. Basel Saturday Servette - FC Wil Sunday Thun - FC Zurich Xamax - Young Boys
Standings going into week 11 1. Grasshoppers 10 7 3 0 26: 8 (49) 2. Basel 10 7 1 2 25:15 (46) 3. Young Boys 10 5 1 4 15:18 (31) 4. Xamax 10 3 3 4 13:13 (28) 5. Servette 10 3 4 3 12:15 (28) 6. Thun 10 2 2 6 11:20 (24) 7. Wil 10 2 2 6 14:22 (24) 8. Zürich 10 2 2 6 12:17 (24) Situation for Uefa Cup spots Things just got a lot more complicated after Xamax lost the cup final. Here's what it breaks down to. Xamax is only qualified for the Uefa Cup for certain if Basel wins the championship. Should GC win it, then Xamax has to be at least 4th in the standings. Servette is strongly knocking on the Uefa Cup door with the current situation.
This has been an interesting spring round. If only the MLS would learn some lessons! The champions race can be decided this weekend with a GCZ win, if they loose the top gets very interesting. The UEFA Cup spots are still up in the air also. With Xamax and YB playing each other this weekend, there could be a three way tie at 31 points if Servette and Xamax win. Both Servette and Xamax are at home, and two wins from the two Romand teams are possible. Next week YB plays Servette. These two games for YB could effectivly secure a UEFA Cup spot if they win both. Things could get very tight if they don't. In any matter, the last four weeks should be good.
For what it is worth, an Article in L'Express Newspaper from Neuchatel: "Neuchâtel Xamax in the space of three weeks loose all. It is possible that too much is being asked of a team that had only hoped to avoid the promotion-relégation round, the rest is a bonus." The article talks about how too many times the team has missed oppourtunities to perform well in big games. While Xamax was not expected to do much, they have provided some life into sooccer in Neuchatel. If Xamax does not get points this weekend from YB, I can see them sliding into an Intertoto Cup spot. The momentum that they had at the beginning of the spring round has dissappeared.
Grasshoppers - Basel 2:2 (1:0) 16. Petric (1:0), 60. Spycher (2:0), 65. H. Yakin (2:1), 67. Gimenez (2:2)
As Rob meant to say on this thread: They are hoping for at least 4,000. Rama is suspended for this game, as are Aziawonou and Cerrone.
Pro/Rel matches St. Gallen - Vaduz 1:0 (81' Jairo) Tomorrow Kriens - Luzern (the Luzern derby) Delemont - Sion Looks like FCSG is going to grab the 2nd spot in next season's 10 team league. I'm glad, the St. Gallen fans are some of the best in the country, and they deserve to see NLA football. Before Basel opened the St. Jakob Park, it was FCSG that had the highest average attendance (about 11K). For FC Vaduz there is still hope to get in through the backdoor (Wil's license) - the same goes for FC Luzern.
Yeah Servette! I agree that FCSG has great fans, even after they lost 11-3 to FC Wil in the fall, the fans came back. Xamax and YB is big for the UEFA Cup spot.
Xamax - Young Boys 2:0 (50. Simo, 77. Leandro) Thun - FC Zurich 1:2 (24. Streller 1:0, 75. Guerrero 1:1, 91. Quentin 1:2) NLA Standings after Week 11 1. Grasshoppers 11 7 4 0 28:10 50 2. Basel 11 7 2 2 27:17 47 3. Xamax 11 4 3 4 15:13 31 4. Young Boys 11 5 1 5 15:20 31 5. Servette 11 4 4 3 13:15 31 6. Zürich 11 3 2 6 14:18 27 7. Thun 11 2 2 7 12:22 24 8. Wil 11 2 2 7 14:23 24 Wow, the race for the Uefa cup spots is becoming really tight. Right now you got Xamax, Young Boys, and Servette even on points for 3rd place. Xamax seems to have recovered fine after the 6:0 scalping in the cupfinal.
Pro/Rel Kriens - Luzern 3:3 (2:3) Delémont - Sion 2:1 (2:1) Standings after Week 11 1. Aarau 9 7 1 1 19: 5 22 2. St. Gallen 10 5 3 2 19: 8 18 ----------------------------------- 3. Luzern 9 3 4 2 16:13 13 4. Kriens 10 3 2 5 14:21 11 5. Vaduz 9 2 4 3 9:15 10 6. Delémont 10 2 3 5 11:18 9 7. Sion 9 1 3 5 8:16 6 How ironic. Looks like Luzern's "little brother" Kriens will be the team responsible for pushing FC Luzern over the relegation edge.
Looks like an long shot for Vaduz. Luzern still has the inside edge if Wil is dropped. Nice to see that Delemont finally won a game.