there is no real thread for this, but Basels U-19 is 3rd in their group in the U-19 Champions league aka Next Gen Series http://www.nextgenseries.com/en/FixturesResultsTables
Just two min after Leoni makes two great saves in rapid succession, FCZ gives away the ball in their own half and Sporting scores. 14' 1-0 Sporting.
Depending on FC Basel, Switzerland may fall as far as 18th next season for UEFA coefficients. The 5th slot is long gone. http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2012.html
That link has Switzerland 16th and siginificantly ahead of all of countries behind them so why do you think Switzerland could fall to 18th? The next two countries behind Switzerland are Israel and Scotland. Maccabi Haifa is the only Israeli club with a chance to reach the knockout rounds of the Europa League and if they draw or lose to Schalke 04 and the other game in their group has a winner Macacbi Haifa will be eliminated. Celtic needs to win at Udinese or Scotland won't have anybody in the Europa League knockout rounds. Neither Israel nor Scotland has anybody in the Champions League.
Well then why didn't he link to that page instead? Anyway Switzerland is 17th on that page and while they could fall to 18th or worse that isn't guaranteed to happen. A fall to 16th or worse loses the second Champions League spot. A fall to 17th or worse (16th or worse if the defending champion doesn't qualify domestically) makes the Champion start in the Qualifying Round 2 as opposed to Qualifying Round 3. Basel will get 5 bonus points if they beat Manchester United to advance which when divided by 5 for the number of Swiss clubs competing would add 1 point to Switzerland's coefficient. For the period 2007-2008 through 2011-2012 Switzerland is 16th and less than a point behind 14th.
Just a little bit longer until FC Basel could end Man U Champions League run. I would love to hear the excuses if FC Basel wins outright,which they will have to do be able to advance.
Tremendous first half at St. Jakob Park and Basel is winning 1-0 thanks to Marco Streller in the 9th minute. ManU really seems to suit them this year but there are still a very long 45 minutes ahead.
Congrats Basel!!! Great performance. Shaqiri, Alexander Frei and Fabian Frei are absolutely fantastic players!!! Benfica and Basel advance! Best of luck in the rest of the competition!
Amazing for Basel. Only thing I will say is success like this for smaller nations' clubs often helps them monopolise their domestic leagues through the extra finance. Does this not worry fans of other clubs? I imagine it wont make as much difference as it will to somebody like APOEL and the Cypriot league but it still makes them stronger.
Simply WOW WOW WOW !!! Streller & Frei ... this packed BL experience was obviously too much for ManWho. ) Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Sensation nach Basel.
Great win for Basel. To answer the question, Basel have been the most consistent team in Switzerland for the last 10-15 years. There have been years that GCZ. FCZ, YB have challenged, but Basel has been there in the top three evey year, if I remember correctly. The real reason that Basel has the monopoly in Switzerland is they have a great owner who is willing to spend some money, it will be interesting to see as she is stepping down this month, they also have the best youth system in Switzerland. Youth from all over the country are trying to get to play for them. In the long run, this actually helps Swiss exposure, as they increase the coefficient, adding more teams into UEFA tournaments, etc. All in all, a great win! Not as exciting a match as the 3-3 vs Liverpool, but a better result.
great victory for Basel! Streller, Shaqiri, Sommer, A.Frei, Cabral with great matches. Steinhöfer lucky. Park was a bit of a worry in the first half like in the last few matches, but he improved in the second half. Now, Nicosia or Inter would be the easiest draws Vs Italian teams, the Swiss have done well lately. Bayern would be interesting - after last years close matches, Basel could do better this season. But Bayern is also doing better than last season overall. Vs Arsenal in two good matches, it also could be possible to advance.
.....And I'll be receiving even more abuse than normal on a few english football messageboards for daring to support Switzerland/Swiss clubs in Europe. One in the eye to the english media, and also the bookmakers who had Basel at odds of 9-2 to win. .......And it had to be Frei und Streller (who else?)
Great win for FC Basel! Shaqiri is an amazing player. He has a bright future ahead of him. Also like magicgam1 said Park Joo-Ho had some problems in the first half marking Nani, but he did well in the second. I hope he keeps on improving cause the KNT really needs a LB who can step up.
Streller said ahead of the match, in 10 matches vs Man Utd they can draw 1 and win 1 and they drew the one at Man Utd. So, they wanted to win this one... Streller and Frei are worth a lot to Basel, especially by concentrating fully on FC Basel. Of course, both still could have helped in the NT this season, maybe even Huggel, but at latest at the end of the European Championship campaign both Frei and Huggel should have left the NT to let the youngsters develop. Now, after the bad matches at the beginning of the Euro campaign and the strange mood within the team, a cut was necessary. So, it was actually good for the mood in the NT and for developping the future NT that Frei and Huggel left the NT during the Euro campaign. Grichting could have left it at the end of the Euro campaign, he shouldn't have walked away right after the England match because he was angry not being in the first team. Streller also could have decided independently from Frei and Huggel, but it was a bit of a consequence of a few not so good performances in the NT. Although, in his shape he still would be a help for the NT. In the end, it was quite logic he also quit the NT. But he could have helped the NT a lot if he had been fighting more from the beginning and showing his full potential - I mean not complaining about not playing at VfB, but proving at training that he should be in the first team. Taking his responsibilities after the bad matches in the NT and not feeling mad about the whole of Switzerland for some stupid guys booing him. He should have accepted the critics and trying to improve. Of course, at Basel he is feeling well and playing better therefore, but he never showed his full potential elsewhere (not really even at Basel) and that's first for mental attitude not being good enough. Yakin, I would have used him yet for the Euro campaign, but then left him out. The creative youngsters should have received playing time in the Euro campaign, but there are still not enough creative players in Switzerland. But the real cut in the NT should have been done at the manager position and that really at the beginning of the Euro campaign.The rest would have come with the new manager.