Thursday's Swiss Super League match:

FC Basel 1893 vs Lausanne-Sport

FC Basel: Sommer; Steinhöfer, Schär, Dragovic, Voser; Fabian Frei; Salah, Elneny, Serey Die (69. Diaz), Stocker (75. Philipp Degen); Streller (80. Bobadilla).

Lausanne-Sport: Favre; Chakhsi, Meoli, Sonnerat, Sanogo, Facchinetti; Malonga (67. Kamber), Martin, Marazzi, Avanzini (22. Moussilou); Tafer.

24.) 0:1 - Fabian Frei (assist by Valentin Stocker)
60.) 0:2 - Fabian Frei (assist by Valentin Stocker)

FT - FC Basel 1893 2:0 Lausanne-Sport



Oh, and my favourite Swiss goalie made it into the top-11 of the Europe League 2012/13 as selected from ran (German TV, Kabel1):

Swiss Cup Final - Stade de Suisse, Bern



FC Basel vs Grasshopper Club Zürich

So far GC were in 31 finals, winning the Swiss Cup 18 times, while FCB took part in 17 finals before, winning 11 of them.





Goals:
1:0 - Markus Steinhöfer (71.)
1:1 - Izet Hajrovic (75.)

The match was pretty dire until the 71st minute when the first goal was scored practically out of nowhere. After that it became more intense with GC unfortunately looking the better team most of the time. As no further goal was scored, it first went to extra time and then to penalties.


Yann Sommer + Roman Bürki before the shoot-out

2:1 - Fabian Schär
2:2 - Veroljub Salatic
2:2 - Miss! Fabian Frei hits the bar
2:3 - Izet Hajrovic
3:3 - Markus Steinhöfer
3:3 - Miss! Michael Lang does a Ramos and skies the ball
4:3 - Marcelo Diaz
4:4 - Frank Feltscher
4:4 - Miss! Raul Bobadilla hits the bar
4:5 - Milan Vilotic

Unfortunately, this time the penalty shoot-out went to GC, albeit deservedly so.

FC Basel 1893 1:1(3:4) Grasshopper Club Zürich (after penalties)


Roman Bürki happy, Yann Sommer not so

So GC is Swiss Cup winner 2013. Gratz!

FC Basel Squad 2012/13

The Goalkeepers:

#01 - Yann Sommer (23) (GK)
#18 - Germano Vailati (31) (GK)
#23 - Mirko Salvi (18) (GK)

Spoiler:

The Defenders:

#05 - Arlind Ajeti (18) (CB)
#06 - Aleksandar Dragovic (21) (CB)
#18 - Fabian Schär (20) (CB)
#26 - Gastón Sauro (22) (CB)
#29 - Radoslav Kovac (32) (CB)
#03 - Joo-Ho Park (25) (LB)
#04 - Philipp Degen (29) (RB)
#15 - Kay Voser (25) (RB)
#27 - Markus Steinhöfer (26) (RB)


The Midfielders:

#24 - Cabral (23) (DM)
#10 - Gilles Yapi (30) (CM)
#19 - Simon Grether (20) (CM)
#21 - Marcelo Díaz (25) (CM)
#25 - Darko Jevtic (19) (CM)
#20 - Fabian Frei (23) (AM)
#14 - Valentin Stocker (23) (LW)
#07 - David Degen (29) (RW)
#22 - Mohammad Salah (20) (RW)
#28 - Stephan Andrist (24) (RW)


The Attackers:

#30 - Stjepan Vuleta (18) (RW)
#09 - Marco Streller (31) (ST) - captain
#13 - Alexander Frei (33) (ST)
#31 - Jacques Zoua (20) (ST)
#35 - Kwang-Ryong Pak (19) (ST)

========================================================

FC Basel - Season 2012/13

Raiffeisen Super League:

Fr 13 Jul 2012: Servette FC 0:1 FC Basel (Matchday 1)
Sa 21 Jul 2012: FC Basel 2:2 FC Luzern (Matchday 2)
Sa 28 Jul 2012: Grasshopper Club 2:2 FC Basel (Matchday 3)
Sa 04 Aug 2012: FC Sion 1:1 FC Basel (Matchday 4)
Su 12 Aug 2012: FC Basel 3:1 FC Thun (Matchday 5)
Sa 18 Aug 2012: FC Basel 2:0 Lausanne-Sport (Matchday 6)
Sa 25 Aug 2012: FC St. Gallen 2:1 FC Basel (Matchday 7)
Su 02 Sep 2012: FC Basel 0:0 FC Zürich (Matchday 8 )
Su 23 Sep 2012: BSC Young Boys 1:1 FC Basel (Matchday 9)
We 26 Sep 2012: FC Basel 4:1 FC Sion (Matchday 10)
Sa 29 Sep 2012: Lausanne-Sport 1:1 FC Basel (Matchday 11)
Su 07 Oct 2012: FC Basel 3:2 Servette FC (Matchday 12)
Su 21 Oct 2012: FC Luzern 1:0 FC Basel (Matchday 13)
Su 28 Oct 2012: FC Zürich 1:2 FC Basel (Matchday 14)
Sa 03 Nov 2012: FC Basel 2:0 BSC Young Boys (Matchday 15)
Su 18 Nov 2012: FC Basel 4:0 Grasshopper Club (Matchday 16)
Su 25 Nov 2012: FC Thun 3:2 FC Basel (Matchday 17)
Sa 01 Dec 2012: FC Basel 1:0 FC St. Gallen (Matchday 18 )
-- Winter Break --
Su 10 Feb 2013: FC Basel 3:0 FC Sion (Matchday 19)
Su 17 Feb 2013: Lausanne-Sport 1:2 FC Basel (Matchday 20)
Su 24 Feb 2013: FC Basel 0:0 Grasshopper Club (Matchday 21)
Su 03 Mar 2013: Servette FC 1:2 FC Basel (Matchday 22)
Sa 09 Mar 2013: FC Basel 3:0 BSC Young Boys (Matchday 23)
Su 17 Mar 2013: FC Basel 1:0 FC Thun (Matchday 24)
Mo 01 Apr 2013: FC Luzern 0:4 FC Basel (Matchday 25)
Su 07 Apr 2013: FC St. Gallen 1:1 FC Basel (Matchday 26)
Su 14 Apr 2013: FC Basel 3:1 FC Zürich (Matchday 27)
Su 21 Apr 2013: FC Thun 2:2 FC Basel (Matchday 28 )
Su 28 Apr 2013: FC Basel 0:3 FC Luzern (Matchday 29)
Su 05 May 2013: FC Sion 0:1 FC Basel (Matchday 30)
We 08 May 2013: FC Zürich 3:1 FC Basel (Matchday 31)
Su 12 May 2013: FC Basel 2:0 Servette FC (Matchday 32)
Th 16 May 2013: FC Basel 2:0 Lausanne-Sport (Matchday 33)
Su 26 May 2013: Grasshopper Club 1:0 FC Basel (Matchday 34)
We 29 May 2013: BSC Young Boys 0:1 FC Basel (Matchday 35)
Sa 01 Jun 2013: FC Basel 1:0 FC St. Gallen (Matchday 36)


Schweizer Cup:

15 Sep 2012: FC Amriswil 1:6 FC Basel (Last 64)
11 Nov 2012: FC Chiasso 1:4 FC Basel (Last 32)
09 Dec 2012: FC Locarno 2:3 (AET) FC Basel (Last 16)
27 Feb 2013: FC Thun 1:2 FC Basel (AET) (QF)
17 Apr 2013: FC Sion 0:1 FC Basel (SF)
20 May 2013: FC Basel 1:1 (2:3) (PSO) Grasshopper Club Zürich (final in Bern)


Champions League Qualification:

2nd round:
1st leg: Tu 17 July 2012: FC Flora Tallinn (EST) 0:2 FC Basel 1893
2nd leg: Tu 24 July 2012: FC Basel 1893 3:0 FC Flora Tallinn (EST)

3rd round:
1st leg: We 1 Aug 2012: Molde FK (NOR) 0:1 FC Basel 1893
2nd leg: We 8 Aug 2012: FC Basel 1893 1:1 Molde FK (NOR)

Play-offs:
1st leg: Tu 21 Aug 2012: FC Basel 1:2 CFR Cluj (ROM)
2nd leg: We 29 Aug 2012: CFR Cluj (ROM) 1:0 FC Basel


Europe League Group Stage:

Matchday 1: Th 20 Sep 2012: Sporting Lissabon (POR) 0:0 FC Basel
Matchday 2: Th 04 Oct 2012: FC Basel 2:2 KRC Genk (BEL)
Matchday 3: Th 25 Oct 2012: FC Videoton (HUN) 2:1 FC Basel
Matchday 4: Th 08 Nov 2012: FC Basel 1:0 FC Videoton (HUN)
Matchday 5: Th 22 Nov 2012: FC Basel 3:0 Sporting Lissabon (POR)
Matchday 6: Th 06 Dec 2012: KRC Genk (BEL) 0:0 FC Basel

Last 32:
Th 14 Feb 2013: FC Basel 2:0 Dnipro Dnipropetrowsk (UKR)
Th 21 Feb 2013: Dnipro Dnipropetrowsk (UKR) 1:1 FC Basel

Last 16:
Th 07 Mar 2013: FC Basel 2:0 Zenit St.Petersburg (RUS)
Th 14 Mar 2013: Zenit St.Petersburg (RUS) 1:0 FC Basel

QF:
Th 04 Apr 2013: Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) 2:2 FC Basel
Th 11 Apr 2013: FC Basel 2(3):2(1) Tottenham Hotspur FC (ENG) (After PKs)

SF:
Th 25 Apr 2013: FC Basel 1:2 Chelsea FC (ENG)
Th 02 May 2013: Chelsea FC (ENG) 3:1 FC Basel

So, now the Swiss Super League 2012/13 has come to its conclusion, too, and we can celebrate a worthy winner: FC Basel 1893


(click for huge pic)


No way I would miss the chance to upload a pic of Yann Sommer


So next year, FC Basel will start in the 3rd round of the CL qualification as seeded team in the Champions' branch (only the following year the Swiss Champion will start in the group stage again).

Huge Congrats to Basel for winning the league!

I am sure Sommer played some part in the win.

Kick wrote:I am sure Sommer played some part in the win.

Absolutely. Least conceded goals in the Swiss Super League this season, 50% saved penalties this season (2 of 4, both decisive and one of these in the CL quali (90th minute) and one in the EL (86th minute)), 16 clean sheets in 36 Super League matches. Not bad at all!

Oh, and Basel ended as 6th in my Best defense record overview: http://www.goallegacy.net/t24397-return-of-the-top-defenses-of-the-top-5-leagues-2012-2013-stats

@ rwo: are you saying that in 2014-15 season, Swiss champion (it seems Basel by default) will be in group stage of Champions League (no qualifications)!!! That would be huge as they will be guaranteed €20 in revenue.

iftikhar wrote:@ rwo: are you saying that in 2014-15 season, Swiss champion (it seems Basel by default) will be in group stage of Champions League (no qualifications)!!! That would be huge as they will be guaranteed €20 in revenue.

AFAIK yes as Basel collected quite some coefficient points in this and the last seasons. ATM Switzerland is ranked #13 in the 5 year ranking (this year's ranking has an impact for the season after the next season, IIRC), and as there is a rule that the Champion of the #13 country goes directly into the group phase if the CL winner qualifies directly for the CL, which normally is expected.

Source: http://www.joggeli.ch/presseschau.cfm?cmd=detail&id=25859
http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/So-sichert-Basel-der-Schweiz-einen-fixen--ChampionsLeaguePlatz/story/14360424

Starting on Friday, FC Basel will compete in the 4 team mini tournamen "Uhrencup" in Switzerland. They will first play against Fortuna Düsseldorf tomorrow, while Grasshopper Club Zürich will meet SD Crvena Zvezda on Saturday. The matches will be streamed live at http://www.uhrencup.ch

Source: http://www.fcb.ch/news/show/byItemID/de-de/10044/30719/16/7

Live stream ^^ http://www.20min.ch/sport/fussball/story/22651771

08.) 1:0 - Darko Jevtic
68.) 2:0 - Veljko Simic
78.) 3:0 - Endogan Adili

FT FC Basel  1893 3:0 Fortuna Düsseldorf

By the way, Basel is atm playing against Red Star Belgrad in the "Uhrencup".

Here's the official live stream: http://www.20min.ch/sport/fussball/story/FCB-kann-sich-gegen-Belgrad-den-Titel-sichern-23720551

Only drawback: It's Germano Vailati in goal, not Yann Sommer

42.) 0:1 - Filip Mladenovic (assist by Abiola Dauda)
80.) 1:1 - Valentin Stocker
88.) 2:1 - Raul Bobadilla (assist by Mohamed Salah)

FT FC Basel 1893 2:1 Red Star Belgrad

Tonight, Borussia Dortmund will be guests for a big test match in the St.Jakob-Park.

Sport1 will show it live on German free TV starting 19:25 GMT+2

Oh, and it seems http://www.bvbtotal.de/ will stream it for free!

Some info: http://www.bvb.de/
http://www.fcb.ch/news/show/byItemID/de-de/10044/30729/16/7

So, today was the season opening for FC Basel, and they won it against newly promoted FC Aarau.

FC Basel 1893 vs FC Aarau

Basel: Sommer; Philipp Degen, Schär, Ajeti, Safari (77. Voser); Salah (86. Andrist), Elneny, Frei, Stocker; Streller, Bobadilla (69. Xhaka).

Aarau: Mall; Gonzalez, Jäckle, Garat, Martignoni; Staubli, Burki, Ionita (56. Lüscher), Calla; Mouangue (67. Marazzi), Teichmann (77. Romano).

Goals:
23. Salah 1:0 (assist Stocker)
64. Bobadilla 2:0 (assist Stocker)
73. Streller 3:0
80. Garat 3:1 (assist Marazzi)

FT - FC Basel 1893  3:1  FC Aarau

Today Basel also announced the return of prodigal son Matías Emilio Delgado who played for Basel in 2003-2006 and won the Swiss League with them twice before he went to Besiktas Istanbul and Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi. The 30 year old Argentinian signed a 4 year contract and came without a transfer fee.

Grasshopper Club vs FC Basel 1893

GC: Bürki; Michael Lang, Vilotic, Grichting, Pavlovic; Salatic; Hajrovic (66. Hajrovic), Abrashi, Gashi (85. Steven Lang), Anatole (80. Toko); Ben Khalifa.

Basel: Sommer; Philipp Degen, Schär, Dragovic, Safari (76. Voser); Salah (63. Andrist), Elneny (38. Xhaka), Frei, Stocker; Streller, Bobadilla.

Goals:
28. Fabian Schär 0:1 (assist Valentin Stocker)
48. Izet Hajrovic 1:1 (assist Nassim Ben Khalifa)

This match was hotly contested in the baking oven Letzigrund. My favourite goalkeeper was by far the star of the match; without him the scoreline would have been much more unfavourable to Basel. Me likey! Oh, and kudos to referee Alain Bieri - in the 73rd minute he first gave a mistaken foul penalty to GC, but after protests and a discussion with his linesman he corrected his decision and took back the penalty!

FT - Grasshopper Club 1:1 FC Basel 1893


MotM by a huge margin according to both baz and fcb.ch


No pen! Just a fantastic save!

So, little update. Yesterday was an in-season friendly where 1. FSV Mainz 05 visited FC Basel 1893 to play at the Schützenmatte in Basel.

Murat Yakin played mostly his reserve players, and so it was Germano Vailati in goal, who got rave reviews for his heroics in the first half. (Thomas Tuchel: "If I could take one Basel player with me today it would be that GK!") Nonetheless, the match ended 3:3.


Germano Vailati in action

Unfortunately I didn't find a stream of thew match, but when I learned that Yann Sommer only decorated the bench, I wasn't so sad after all. ^^


Joo-Ho Park said good-bye to Basel as he transferred to Mainz.

The next match will be on Saturday, when FC Lausanne-Sport will visit Basel for matchday 3 of the Swiss Super League.

Today at 19:00 GMT+2, FC Basel will face Maccabi Tel Aviv FC at the St.Jakob-Park in the first leg of the 3rd round of the CL qualification.

With former defense chief Aleksandr Dragovich gone to Dynamo Kiev and striker Raul Bobadilla currently facing some legal proceedings for speeding (according to Swiss law he could face 1 to 4 years in prison as he was 60 km/h too fast in a 50km/h zone and FC Basel is not amused at all), Murat Yakin will have to figure out a competitive team somehow.

Well, they should see to it that "the zero has to stand" as Huub Stevens always used to say, and with Yann Sommer they fortunately have the top GK of the Swiss League. BTW, Yann Sommer managed to be voted MotM for the match FC Basel vs Lausanne-Sport (2:0), just like for the GC vs FCB match.


(c) by Sacha Grossenbacher/fcb.ch


(c) by Sacha Grossenbacher/fcb.ch

CL Qualification 2013/14, 3rd Round

FC Basel 1893 vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC





39.)  1:0 - Valentin Stocker (assist by Marcelo Diaz)

FT - FC Basel 1893 1:0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC


Made one mistake, but still kept a clean sheet. Good job <3

Swiss Super League Matchday 4:

FC St. Gallen vs FC Basel 1893

St. Gallen:  Lopar; Lenjani, Montandon, Besle, Mutsch; Wüthrich (66. Keita), Janjatovic, Nater, Nushi (75. Rodriguez); Mathys (91. Martic); Karanovic

Basel:  Sommer; Voser, Schär, Ajeti, Safari; Frei; Xhaka, Elneny, Diaz (83. Sauro), Salah (73. Bobadilla); Andrist (66. Delgado)

Goals:
59.) 0:1 - Taulant Xhaka (assist by Mohamed Salah)
81.) 1:1 - Dejan Janjatovic

FT - FC St.Gallen 1:1 FC Basel 1893





This was a horrible dire match. In Germany we would call this "Not gegen Elend" (literally: misery vs suffering). Basel's defense ran around like headless chicken, the attack was nonexistent and midfield? What midfield? Even Yann Sommer got infected and had one embarassing gaffe which fortunately was covered by a last ditch on-the-line save by Kay Voser. If they don't pull themselves together next week against Tel-Aviv, they will get steamrolled in Israel.



On the plus side: Both Egyptian players from Basel, Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Elneny, decided to travel to Israel with the team even though they got heavy pressure from Egypt to boycott the match as it is played in Israel.

I'm really glad they prefer sport to politics. Moreover, if two of the best Basel players would forfeit the game, it would actually be counter productive. I mean,  shouldn't it be much more satisfying for the Egyptians if Basel actually manage to kick out the Israeli team?

When the reporters at the PK tried to ask a hole in his belly, Mohamed Salah was obviously not so amused. He just wants to play football and not get interrogated by nosy media people.

CL Qualification 2013/14, 3rd Round, 2nd leg

Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC vs FC Basel 1893





5.)  0:1 - Fabian Schär (PK)
21.) 0:2 - Mohamed Salah (assist by Valentin Stocker)
32.) 0:3 - Marcelo Diaz (assist by Marco Streller)
35.) 1:3 - Fabian Schär (OG)
37.) 2:3 - Eran Zahavi
54.) 3:3 - Maharan Radi



FT: Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC 3:3 FC Basel 1893

So Basel proceeds to the CL Qualification play-offs.

Swiss Super League Matchday 5:

FC Basel 1893 vs FC Zürich

Basel:  Sommer; P. Degen (61. Voser), Ivanov, Schär, Safari; Frei; Salah, Elneny (74. Andrist), Diaz, Xhaka (61. Delgado); Streller.

FC Zürich:  Da Costa; Benito, Djimsiti, Nef, P. Koch; Pedro, Chiumiento, Rikan (74. Schönbächler), Kukuruzovic, Mariani; Gavranovic (67. Chermiti).

Looks like da Costa lifted a kit from the Barcelona dressing room:


Goals:
06.) 1:0 - Marco Streller
23.) 1:1 - Avi Rikan (assist by Mario Gavranovic)
69.) 1:2 - Mario Gavranovic (assist by Avi Rikan)

FT - FC Basel 1893 1:2 FC Zürich



*sighs* No chance for Yann Sommer whatsoever there as the Basel defense let the Zürich guys stand totally free in the box

Despite getting two goals against, Yann Sommer was chosen Man of the Match for the Super League game FC Basel 1893 vs FC Zürich



Source: http://www.fcb.ch/news/show/byItemID/de-de/10044/30974/16/7

Swiss Cup 2013/14, 1st Round

BSC Old Boys vs FC Basel 1893

The classic Basel derby will take place at the stadium Schützenmatte on Saturday, 17 Aug 2013, 18:00 GMT+2.

Due to the international break in midweek, FC Basel will lack several players (e.g. Germano Vailato will play instead of Yann Sommer), and coach Murat Yakin decided to fly to Bulgaria to watch the match Lokomotive Plovdiv vs Ludogorets Razgrad as the latter will be the play-off opponent of FC Basel in the CL qualification.

The Swiss Football Association will stream the matches with Super League team participation live at http://www.cupplay.ch/de/Cup-Play/Live.aspx

BSC Old Boys: Oberle; Leuthard (106. Tobias Ritter), Akdemir, Wurtzel, Dominik Ritter; Mäder, Akbulut; Felipe (65. Saarelma), Jakovljevic, Müller; Rietmann (81. Bartlomé).

FC Basel 1893: Vailati; Philipp Degen, Sauro, Ivanov, Voser; Frei; David Degen, Delgado, Jevtic (91. Aliji), Adili (58. Stocker); Andrist (74. Seferagic).

95.) 0:1 - Ivan Ivanov (assist by Matias Delgado)

FT - BSC Old Boys 0:1 FC Basel 1893 (AET)

Tomorrow, Ludogorets Razgrad will host FC Basel 1893 for the CL 2013/14 Qualification Play-off, 1st leg in the Vasil Levski national stadium.

The Basel players just arrived at the airport in Sofia, Bulgaria, and were immediately besieged by journalists:



For the match, Marco Streller is out injured and Giovanni Sio, just arrived from Hoffenheim, will have to stand in as striker.

CL Qualification 2013/14, Play-off, 1st leg

FC Ludogorets Razgrad vs FC Basel 1893





12.) 0:1 - Mohamed Salah (assist by Fabian Frei)
23.) 1:1 - Marcelinho





50.) 2:1 - Ivan Stoyanov
60.) 2:2 - Mohamed Salah (assist by Marcelo Diaz)
64.) 2:3 - Giovanni Sio (assist by Valentin Stocker)
84.) 2:4 - Fabian Schär (PK)

FT - FC Ludogorets Razgrad 2:4 FC Basel 1893