This should be a very fun year in the BCL. There will be no less than 5 team with legitimate chances for promotion. In no particular order: FCZ Xamax Aarau Wil Servette I think that this is the year Le Mont of FC Chiasso are relegated, Winterthur, Wohlen, Schaffhausen should battle for places 6-8. The schedule is out 23 July Xamax - Servette Schaffhausen - Wil 24 July Aarau - Chiasso Le Mont - Wohlen 25 July FCZ - Winterthur Those should be some good matches!
For what it is worth, the former incarnation of Xamax has had one of its last days in court. The initial total debts were 36.3 million CHF. They are now 23.9 million CHF. Some of the debts were written off, others were not for Xamax, but for a group that worked for Xamax. Each player, coach, admin personal, will share a portion of 870,000 CHF. This is for back salaries that were not paid. The other money is claimed by over 350 creditors!
Good preview article. Le Matin is saying that 6 teams have a chance at promotion. I am not sure about Wohlen, but with the loan the just got from YB, the have a chance. Here is he Google translator link.
Don't get me wrong I have a very special place in my heart for Servette and I want to see the club do well but I don't see how they can be considered favorites for promotion to the RSL. I think they will do well just to stay up! Am I missing something? The squad doesn't look all that much different then last seasons.
Here is my prediction for how they will finish.... sadly no promotion for us yet this year. 1. Xamax 2. Aarau 3. Wil 4. Zurich 5. Wohlen 6. Schaffhausen 7. Winterthur 8. Servette 9. Chiasso 10. Le Mont
I think Servette will end up in the middle of the table this year. They did add some players, but none that really seem to be the one that will take them to promotion. This years BCL as I mentioned will be top heavy and a much more difficult league than last fall. Aarau, Wil, and Xamax have all gotten better, at least of paper. FCZ retains a portion of their team, and should challenge. It should be fun.
With Aarau's strong second half, they'll be in the thick of second place and Xamax will be near the top, but FCZ is going to run away with this, and I doubt it'll be close. I think Servette will struggle to start, but come on strong, kinda like how Xamax did last year. Relegation is between LeMont and Chiasso, but who the hell knows who's financially stable. LeMont has stayed up for another season despite having the fewest points, so I think it'll take another team failing in the money department to keep them up. My predictions FCZ Aarau Xamax Servette Wil Winterthur Schaffhausen Wohlen Chiasso LeMont
The BCL will be fun to watch this year. I do believe 4 or 5 teams do have a realistic chance. I am not a fan of Zurich and would find much more delight in seeing them relegated again then getting promoted. I know they are too strong not to be in the thick of the promotion race but we've seen much stranger things happen before.
The season is here! 23 July Xamax - Servette Schaffhausen - Wil 24 July Aarau - Chiasso Le Mont - Wohlen 25 July FCZ - Winterthur
23 July Xamax - Servette 2-1 Not surprised with the result. From reports, Servette played very unsure in the first half. They almost drew the match, which would have been a little unfair for Xamax. Schaffhausen - Wil 1-0 24 July Aarau - Chiasso 1-1 I thought Aarau would have been stronger and Chiasso not as strong. Le Mont - Wohlen 0-3 As most of us feel, Le Mont is going to have a long season. 25 July FCZ - Winterthur
25 July FCZ - Winterthur 2-0 R Rodriguez scored early and one late for Sadiku. Wohlen 3 FCZ 3 Xamax 3 Schaffhausen 3 Aarau 1 Chiasso 1 Servette 0 Wil 0 Winterthur 0 Le Mont 0 Leading goal scorer: 11 players have 1 goal. Leading assists: 2 FCZ Adrian Winter 1 9 players have one assist. Attendance: 1 FCZ - 13704 - 13704 average 2. Xamax - 4210 - 4210 average 3. Aarau - 3821 - 3821 average 4. Schaffhausen - 1764 -1764 average 5. Le Mont - 650 - 650 average
Interesting news out of Geneva. Servette and FC Barcelona have created an agreement that stipulates that Barcelona will have first dibs on Servette academy products, while FC Barcelona B players will be loaned to Servette. There will be other things to link the two clubs, but this was the big one.
This is a tremendous deal for Servette, but some expectations need to be tempered with regards to Barcelona's B Team. They ain't exactly their A Team, and most of the kids who play there rarely see top divisions. I hope it works out for Servette, and especially this kid.
I will assume that it will work like this. Servette gets a player or two from Barcelona B a year and any youth player that shows lots of promise Barcelona will get first dibs on as well as a reduce rate. I hope there are coaching as well as other exchanges as well.
29 July Wohlen - Xamax 0-0 Fun match to watch, lost of very good chances in the first 20 min. Each side could have scored at least once. Two main points. 1. If Nuzzolo and Karlen can get someone to pass them the ball in good spots, on a consistent basis, they could each score more than 10 goals. 2. Joël Kiassumbua will earn Wohlen 9 points by himself this year. He made a few very nice saves that kept Wohlen tied.
30 July Wil - FCZ 1-1 A record crowd of just over 4,400 saw FCZ drop their first points of the BCL season. Buff and Roux were the goalscores. Winterthur - Aarau 1-2 Aarau with a nice away win.
31 July Chiasso - Schaffhausen 2-3 Shkelqim Demhasj scored two goals to list Schaffhausen into the top of the table with 6 points. Schaffhausen 6 Wohlen 4 FCZ 4 Aarau 4 Xamax 4 Chiasso 1 Wil 1 Servette 0 * Winterthur 0 Le Mont *
Leading goalscorers: 2 Shkelqim Demhasaj Schaffhausen 1 Lots Leading assists 3 Alberto Regazzoni Chiasso 2 Adrian Winter FCZ 1 Lots Spectators: FCZ 13,704 Wil 4,440 Xamax 4,210 Aarau 3,821 Winterthur 3,000 Schaffhusen 1,764 Wohlen 1,340 Chiasso 720 Le Mont 650 Servette xxx
6 Aug Chiasso - Winterthur If Chiasso wins, that would be 0 points from 3 matches for Winterthur. FCZ - Wohlen Both teams sit on 4 points. 7 Aug Schaffhausen - Le Mont Look for FCS to make it 9 points. Xamax - Wil This should be a good one, with Xamax having the advantage. 8 Aug Aarau - Servette
6 Aug Chiasso - Winterthur 0-1 FCZ - Wohlen 4-0 Today was a warning shot from FCZ. After they slipped up last week, this week they were dominant. Sadiku with two goals and Robert Rodriguez gets one. I really wonder what they can do in the Europa League. 7 Aug Schaffhausen - Le Mont Xamax - Wil
7 Aug Schaffhausen - Le Mont 1-2 Schaffhausen suffered a bizarre home defeat to Le Mont, who scored 2x in the first 25 min, and Schaffhausen could only manage a goal in the 83'. Xamax - Wil 3-2 Wil was up 1-2 until Roux earned a red card in the 83rd. Xamax scored twice in additional time to earn the win. 8 Aug Aarau - Servette
8 Aug Aarau - Servette 2-0 Not a good match for Servette, well played by match by Aarau. FCZ 7 Aarau 7 Xamax 7 Schaffhausen 6 Wohlen 4 Le Mont 3 Winterthur 3 Chiasso 1 Wil 1 Servette 0