Lille should have a little advantage due to them having played recently. But as a Swiss supporter, two victories would be great.
A Basel advancement is definitely in the realm of the possible, but it will be very tough (no doubt.) Playing an in-season Lille (with the second leg away) will truly test their abilities. Lille is currently second in the Ligue 1 - 'nuff said.
Would like to pass on my good wishes to Basel and hope for a favourable result. No hard feelings from Edinburgh
Basel has got a huge disadvantage by not having played for some months, I think the match schedule of the league is really something that should be discussed by the League board...
The problem is that it is winter in Switzerland right now. Watch the highlights to the FCSG-AArau match from this weekends Swisscom Cup. That is why there is a winter break. Yes Basel is at a disadvantage, yes Lille is playing well right now. I do expect that Basel will play well though.
You win some you lose some. FCB might encounter a disadvantage right now, but our clubs also benefit from the very early season start. For example, when Basel played CL qualifying Inter were still in their preseason. Unless we change to a Sweden like summer schedule (which would still put FCB at a disadvantage right now), a winter break is a must. PS: Basel tied Sparta Prague 2:2 in their last test game.
I'm just not sure I can support FCB under ANY circumstances (although I'd be lying if I said I was really upset when they bumped Celtic out of the CL in 2002) - any other Swiss team and it would be no problem (Again, I wanted FCZ to win when they beat Celtic in 1998 - notice a pattern here!?!?) but I don't know. Although part of me is saying don't be so immature as it will improve the Swiss co-efficient and that can only be a good thing (If GC ever manage to get back into Europe!!!), you can see the bind I'm in. I suppose the deciding factor would be if roles were reversed, would Basle fans want the Hoppers to do well in Europe? If so, fair deal, I'll throw my backing behind them..but don't expect the goodwill to last
Probably not, but many of those border-ridding clowns don't have the ability to see the big (domestic) picture anyway.
FT: FC Basel - OSC Lille 0:0 It seems FCB dominated most of the match on a very cold night in Basel, but didn't manage to score. Anyway, Lille didn't manage to sneak one in either, so everything is still open for game two.
Lille does not have a great home field advantage because they play at a crappy temporary stadium that has a track around it. They are trying to renovate their current stadium but they are having problems getting it started due to enviornmental issues. If they make the Champions Leage next year they will have to play their home games at yet another stadium because their temporary one is too small.
They have still been strong at home this season, no? Match Highlights: http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=800001&sid=5545988&pageTitle=Passion Foot
The big question before the 2nd leg is how Basel has dealt with the snow battle loss in St. Gallen. If Basel takes a page from the FCSG fighting spirit, they should stand a chance against Lille. Btw, Lille has tied Metz 1:1 over the weekend.
If there is one thing Basel has to avoid tonight, it's falling behind. Lille has such a good defense that it would be very difficult to come back. Keeping the match scoreless and waiting for set pieces should be the key to the game. Probable Line-ups Lille: Sylva; Chalmé Tavlaridis, Vitakic, Tafforeau; Debuchy, Dumont, Bodmer, Acimovic; Landrin; Moussilou. Basel: Zuberbühler; Philipp Degen, Zwyssig, Müller, Kleber; Sterjovski, Huggel, Chipperfield; Rossi; Carignano, Gimenez. - Lille will be without topscorer and captain Philippe Brunel.
FT: Lille - FCB 2:0 From what I can gather Basel didn't really deserve to advance tonight. A very uninspired showing by FCB.
Time to draw a closing line after this atrocious European season. The annual coefficient is slightly higher than last year (2.625), but overall still lousy. After two horrible consecutive seasons we've now fallen to 19th in the 2005 Uefa ranking (down from 13th last year.) What this means is no 2nd CL spot for 2006/2007 and probably for many years to come. See the ranking here: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/crank2005.html Props to the Austrians however, they have managed to re-gain theirs.
Great link. Sturm Graz had a great run in 2000-2001 which help the Austrian cause. That will be gone after next year. Nicht so gut. Austria Wien needs to recover against Bilbao!