According to legend, the Swiss founder of Barcelona, Joan Gamper, a former player of FC Zurich and FC Basel, was inspired by Basel’s colours when he created the Catalan team. Other than that, Barcelona won their first major trophy in 1979 by lifting the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup beating Fortuna Dusseldorf in Basel.
“We’re happy to be here again,” said coach Josep Guardiola. “For the people of Barcelona, this is a city and a stadium with a lot of good memories.”

Guardiola will confirm his rotation and his dislike for fixed starting elevens with the following formation starting the game:
FC Barcelona: Valdes; Dani Alves, Marquez, Puyol, Abidal; Xavi, Touré, Busquets; Henry, Eto’o, Messi.

FC Basel instead has nothing to lose, following two defeats the Swiss have to draw or win this game. Therefore Gross will unfold a Derdiyok-Streller attacking line. Basel will play with the following team:

Basel: Costanzo; Zanni, Abraham, Marque, Safari; Rubio, Huggel, Ergic, Chipperfield; Derdiyok, Streller.

Gross is confident: “The fans will give us tremendous support and what more do you want as a player than to play against Barcelona?”

Yesterday’s demolition – with all three Swiss teams abandoning the competition before the group stage (first time since 2004) – is but one of many failures in Swiss football this year. Following the extraordinary feats of Basel in 2002 ChL and Thun not much later, and the good results in the UEFA Cup, something is going wrong in our small country.
The ridiculous home loss to Luxembourg in the qualifiers, added to the overall failure at Euro 2008 is turning this year into a nightmare. Luckily, the Under-21 selection has performed admirably and will now face a tough test against Spain in the playoffs.

Only FC Basel are left in the competition but considering their first two losses, even the chances of qualifying for the UEFA Cup are close to nothing. If Switzerland fail to win at least one of the two games against Latvia and Greece in one week’s time we might as well go back to playing ice-hockey.

And watching yesterday’s games we can count ourselves unlucky for facing opponents such as Galatasaray and Milan at such early stages, or for missing crucial players (Rochat, Chikhaoui for Zurich, and all Bellinzona’s injuries before yesterday’s game) or simply for being unlucky (Zurich’s disallowed goal in Milan, a crystal-clear penalty claim yesterday etc.) but this amounts to nothing – something is wrong in Switzerland.
Hitzfeld is probably right when he says that it’s a bad thing that Swiss talents are transferred so early and aren’t given the opportunity to grow in their own country and provide quality for the Swiss championship.

Below you’ll find a quick overview of yesterday’s results:

Club Bruges – Young Boys 2-0 (2-0)
Jan Breydel, 17.230 spectators. Referee: Balaj (Rou)
17th Akpala, 29th Sonck.
FC Bruges: Stijnen; Ciman, Alcaraz, Evens, Klukowski; Vargas, Simaeys, Geraerts, Dirar; Sonck, Akpala.
YB: Wölfli; Portillo, Ghezal, Affolter; D.Degen (46′C.Schwegler), Yapi (57′M.Schneuwly), Baykal, Bastians; Varela, Häberli (66′Doumbia), Regazzoni.

A very disappointing result, I was expecting Young Boys to qualify but somehow they lacked the will and strength to trouble the Belgian keeper – the result was logical and a deserved win for the home team. Overall the Bernese side looked stronger and should have been able to contain Akpala and Sonck, yet the defeat seems to confirm that Swiss football is undergoing something terribly serious.

Galatasaray – AC Bellinzona 2-1 (1-0)
Ali Sami Yen, 23.000 spectators. Referee: Nikolaiev (RUS)
24th Baros (P) 1-0, 53rd Sermeter (P) 1-1, 85th Yaser 2-1.
Galatasaray: De Sanctis; Serkan Kurtulus, Meira, Servet, Volkan; Arda (31′Arif Erdem), Ayhan, Mehmet Topal, Hakan Balta; Lincoln; Baros.
Bellinzona: Gritti; Siqueira-Barras, Mangiarratti (65′Mehmeti), La Rocca, Raso; Wahab (67′Miccolis); Sermeter, Rivera, Diarra, Conti (72′Roux); Lustrinelli.

Well, nobody expected Bellinzona to qualify but boy, oh boy, at least they weren’t a disappointment. It took Galatasaray to master all of their skills to defeat the minnows from Ticino. After losing (rather unfairly) the home game Bellinzona almost grasped a well-deserved draw; unafraid of the likes of Baros, Lincoln and the Turkish army, the Swiss team fought determinedly and can only be proud of its achievements. Forza Bellinzona!

FC Zurich – AC Milan 0-1 (0-0)
Letzigrund, 24.100 spectators. Referee: Skomina (SLO)
70th Shevchenko.
Zurich: Leoni; Stahel, Tihinen, Barmettler, Stucki (78′Lampi); Tico, Aegerter; Alphonse (82′Tahirovic), Abdi, Djuric (79′Nikci); Hassli.
Milan: Dida; Zambrotta, Bonera, Kaladze (30′Maldini), Antonini; Flamini, Emerson, Ambrosini (61′Kaka), Seedorf (76′Gattuso); Shevtchenko, Ronaldinho.

Well, a shame that Zurich couldn’t hold Milan – the away side was clearly superior quality-wise but Zurich played with determination and had several chances (including a crystal-clear penalty that was not awarded, which adds to the unfairly disallowed goal in Milan) but couldn’t get a chance to score. Shevchenko instead, inaugurated his return to Milan with the killer, the goal that took away all hope from the Swiss team and Swiss football in general.

Yesterday’s results are very interesting for one main reason: Basel will be busy with European competition until Christmas while the rest of the championship teams can now focus on the home league alone. Will Basel be able to concentrate on both, or will they fail to maintain their leadership with too many matters to handle and too few players to spare?

In other UEFA CUP games: Alexander Frei could not help his team, Borussia Dortmund, add a third away at Udinese to eventually lose on penalties where fellow Swiss International Gokhan Inler scored one of the penalties for the home team.
Swiss forward N’Kufo scored the only goal that opened the group stage to Dutch side Twente in a tight clash with Ligue 1 contenders Rennes.
Von Bergen and Lustenberger played the UEFA Cup game that saw their team Hertha Berlin qualify against St. Patrick’s of Ireland while Magnin only played the last twenty minutes in Stuttgart’s home draw to Varna.
Diego Benaglio was on the pitch for Wolfsburg at Bucarest against Rapid and conceded one goal that in the overall aggregate was insignificant.
Coltorti (Racing Santander) and Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City) were on the bench.

AC Bellinzona, instead, have the least hope of all Swiss teams. Following the impressive home game where they only narrowly lost to Turkish giants Galatasaray grabbing the advantage twice with one man less and conceding the defeat only in extra-time, they would have to play the match of their history to win with a 2 goal advantage in Istanbul. Considering their risky position bottom of the table of the Swiss League, coach Schallibaum might not want to risk pushing his players too much for something which seems totally hopeless from the start.
The Turks have won two consecutive games in their own league and can count on the quality of players such as Kewell, Nonda, Lincoln and Baros and Bellinzona will have Siqueira-Barras, Kalu, Neri and Gashi out for this one.

FC Zurich could very well create the shock of the day thanks to that late goal by Djukic in Milan that gave Zurich some hope (Milan won the game 3-1). Many things have changed since, Milan seems to have profited from the win against the Swiss side to start making a series of wins, including an impressive one over Inter.
Zurich are aware that they have chances of scoring (one thinks of Stahel’s goal that was unjustly disallowed when the score was still 0-0) although Milan welcome back Kaka and Gattuso.
Milan will be missing Inzaghi, Senderos, Borriello, Pirlo and Nesta while Zurich will have to do without two important players like Chikhaoui and Rochat.
Zurich has scored the most goals in the Swiss Championship up until now, have had 4 consecutive wins and are only 2 points behind leaders Basel – will this positive run encourage them to make an exploit tonight, in the same stadium where Luxembourg shocked Switzerland?

My predictions:
Bruges – Young Boys 0-1
Galatasaray – Bellinzona 3-1
FC Zurich – AC Milan 2-1

Aalborg, Cluj, BATE and Anorthosis have all gathered at least one point. Together with FC Basel this quintet is pictured as being the true “underdogs” in the competition this year. The only thing is that the Swiss Champions have lost the opening game to Shakhtar and will risk conceding a second consecutive defeat at Lisbon tonight, against Sporting.

The two teams had already met in last year’s UEFA Cup clash; the Portuguese largely dominating both legs with a 5-0 aggregate score. Basel’s only hope is that they will repeat the feat of defeating another Portuguese team following the 3rd round win against Vitoria Guimaraes in August.

Basel’s weekend defeat to Young Boys (the second defeat in this season, following the away game at Sion) is comparable to the woes of the Portuguese team who have lost the opening game to Barcelona and the derby to Benfica with a 2-0 score. Both teams will be looking to win this game and forget the negative period they are going through.

Basel’s coach Gross said: “I want my players to make the best out of every moment tomorrow. I’m afraid that in the near future it will be harder for a Swiss team to qualify for the group stage.
We’ll have make quite of an achievement. Belief, courage, trust and pride: this is what I’ll ask my players. Sporting will try to kill the game from the start. Our objective will be to resist and start building our game on the flanks.”

Derdiyok being still injured, Gross will grant the pivotal role to a convalescent Streller. Following the latter’s injury at Euro 2008 we haven’t seen much of him other than the second half against Young Boys. This might be the weakness of Basel’s starting lineup but Gross doesn’t really have many options, does he? Other than this, Stocker and Marque will not play. Gross has given the former a break from competition and the latter is injured.

Sporting can show off 18 Portuguese titles, 15 Cups, 7 Super Cups and one Cup Winner’s Cup. They are famous for their youth system and the great stars that began their career in this team: Eusebio, Cristiano Ronaldo, Simao Sabrosa, Luis Figo, Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Viana and Nani.

Even nowadays Sporting has a very competitive team; the most dangerous names being: Anderson Polga, Izmailov, Vukcevic, Derlei, Helder Postiga, Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho and Rochemback.

It’s certainly going to be a very complicated task for Basel – a draw would suffice although a win would radically change the global picture. However, a defeat, with two games against Barcelona coming up would probably mean the end of all hope.

Tonight’s referee will be the Italian Nicola Rizzoli who was also there when Basel defeated Rennes in last year’s UEFA Cup.

Unfortunately, two-thirds of Swiss internet users don’t believe in Basel’s chance according to a recent survey by 20min.ch

Possible Lineups:
Sporting Lisbon: Rui Patricio; Abel, Tonel, Polga, Grimi; Rochemback, Miguel Veloso, Vukcevic; João Moutinho; Derlei, Helder Postiga.
FC Basel: Costanzo; Zanni, Abraham, Ferati, Safari; Huggel; Carlitos, Gelabert, Eduardo (Ergic), Chipperfield; Streller.

Links for tonight’s game

The task appears to be impossible at first yet Milan is undergoing a crisis with two defeats in two games in the start of the Italian Championship and an evident weak physical condition. Add to that many important injuries and the aging of some old glories like Maldini, the task becomes less impossible for the Swiss side.

Yet Challandes is wary: “I don’t like what’s going on in Milan. When they were selected as our opponents I could have hoped that they would have underestimated us. Yet now it’s a must-win game for them, the president will be there – the coach will be under great pressure”.

Milan can choose from three Golden Ball winners (Ronaldinho, Kaka and Shevchenko) and quite a few World Champions – they certainly do not lack the experience.
Zurich will count on 3500 fans in San Siro who might also witness Senderos’ first official match for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Following the Swiss League win over Vaduz, Challandes will ask his men to close the spaces and prevent Milan from playing they want to. Abdi, temporary top-scorer in the League, also says that Zurich will feel like Luxembourg before Switzerland-Luxembourg and will also hope to manage a great result.

AC Bellinzona face an ever harder task. The 2 Million Euro budget team from Ticino will receive Turkish giants Galatasaray who have made a habit of thrashing Swiss teams in recent years. Coach Schallibaum is aware that the chances of passing the round are very low and that Bellinzona will have nothing to lose.

Young Boys seems to have the easiest task on paper since they will play against Club Bruges. An experienced team in the Champions’ League the Belgians will have a slight advantage over the Swiss team before tomorrow’s game featuring a formidable duo upfront Sonck-Akpala. This is Young Boys first game in a higher round of a European Cup since 1993.

Chances are very high that there will be no Swiss teams left in the UEFA Cup after this round.

Chances are that it won’t be the same glorious campaign as 6 years ago for FC Basel – an early home defeat to Shakthar appears to compromise the possibilities of the Swiss Champions not so much for the score, rather for the way Basel played: the team was entirely absent from the pitch.

In a fortnight’s time FC Basel will be condemned to avoid defeat at Sporting Lisbon so as to be entitled to believe in their chances.

Yet can a team, that has to wait for the 79th minute to have its first chance to score against the 7th team in the current Ukrainian standings, believe in qualifying from such a tight group?

The absence of Ergic meant that Basel didn’t have a leader in midfield and the team didn’t appear to be psychologically ready for the game. Despite some early good interventions, keeper Costanzo was troubled by the Ukrainian free kicks and logically Shakhtar went up 2-0 through goals by Fernandinho and Jadson. Yet the fouls that led to these free kicks were not so apparent in the replays – some regrets for the Swiss Champions!
With a 41% ball possession and no shots on goal at all, it was clear that Basel did deserve the score.

Some early changes in the second half saw Mustafi, Eduardo and Rubio come in for Stocker, Derdiyok and Gelabert and Basel started putting some more pressure on the Donetsk defence. Rubio had a good opportunity at the 79th minute but the goal only came at the 92nd with the desperation of Abraham acrobatically sending the ball in the back of the net on a Carlitos cross.
Yet there was no time left and Shakhtar won the game.

We can only hope that the first game will have broken the ice for Basel and that with Ergic back on the pitch they will be able to show their best in Lisbon in 15 days.

Basel – Shakhtar Donetsk 1:2 (0:2)
St.-Jakob-Park. – 34 820 Spectators – Referee Hauge (Nor).
Goals: 25. Fernandinho 0:1. 45. Jadson 0:2. 93. Abraham 1:2.
Basel: Costanzo; Zanni, Abraham, Marque, Hodel; Gelabert (64. Rubio), Hodel; Carlitos, Chipperfield, Stocker (46. Mustafi); Derdiyok (46. Eduardo).
Shakhtar Donetsk: Piatow; Srna, Kutscher, Tschygrynski, Schewtschuk; Fernandinho (83. Fedezki), Hübschman; Ilsinho (66. Willian), Jadson, Brandão; Luiz Adriano (75. Selesnow).

Big evening for Swiss football tomorrow: FC Basel will attempt to be successful in the lucrative Champions’ League group phase and will begin against Ukrainian Champions Shakhtar Donetsk.

The game brings back memories of epic campaigns in 2002, Basel had started that incredible season with a 2-0 win over Spartak Moscow, “we have to be inspired by that game” says coach Christian Gross, “an identical beginning would be ideal”.

Yet it’s not going to be easy: Shakhtar has an estimated 75 Million Swiss Franc budget and can count on a coach like Mircea Lucescu and a 50,000 seater stadium. Other than that, Shaktar intend to qualify from the group stage for the first time in 5 attempts. Last year’s last-gasp defeats to Benfica and Celtic had condemned the Ukrainian team to an early exit: will the tale be different this time?
But the championship hasn’t had a great start for Shakhtar who are currently in 7th place, 11 points behind city rivals Metalurh.

Basel can be glad of the return of Derdiyok after a 2-week injury but will have to do without Ivan Ergic (who got injured during the France-Serbia game) and Safari. Streller’s return is also feasible, yet he will not start the game from the beginning.

Coach Gross says “You have to be realistic in this game. The Ukrainians will be glad to start off with the ‘little Swiss team’. The Champions’ League is a pitiless competition, it requires intelligence and courage. But I believe FC Basel will have their chance throughout the six games that await us”.

In 2002, no one would have believed that Basel could qualify from a group including the likes of Liverpool and Valencia, yet they did. Coach Gross admits that “Gimenez’ opener in the Old Trafford (second group phase where Basel played against Juventus, Manchester and Deportivo) will be forever in my memory”.

Let’s hope this campaign will add to the coach’s good memories. HOPP BASEL!!!

In the other game of the group FC Barcelona play at home against Sporting Lisbon.

No it’s not Goal! or The Miracle of Bern – it’s a Dvd of Basel’s epic 2002-2003 Champions’ League season – a season only 3 current players were part of: Chipperfield, Ergic and Huggel.

Following the unremarkable 0-0 draw in Portugal, Basel will have to be aware of the away goal risk which favours the visitors.

Christian Gross believes his side will need two goals to progress if they want to make history once more and grasp those 10 Million Francs that are awarded to the teams that qualify for the group stage. He believes that spot kicks will be the key to victory and the quality of young Stocker will be essential if Basel are to progress. 27,000 tickets have been sold – the St. Jakob will be quite noisy tonight!

Lineups:

FC Basel: Costanzo; Zanni, Abraham, Marque, Safari; Huggel; Carlitos, Ergic, Gelabert, Stocker; Derdiyok.

Vitoria Guimaraes: Nilson; Andrezinho, Amolin, Moreno, Luciano Amaral; Joao Alves, Flavio; Iubel, Fajardo, Desmarets; Douglas.

LIVEBLOG:

12th: GOAAALLLLL FOR BASEEELLLL!!!! It’s young Stocker who puts in the back of the net, courtesy of a pass by Ergic! 1-0 Basel!
14th: Oh no, penalty for Guimaraes. Fajardo scores, Costanzo only touches the ball. 1-1
21st: Yellow Card for Keeper Nilson.
27th: Yellow Card for Flavio
41st: Yellow for Joao Alves. It looks as if the Portuguese are settling for the score.
42nd: GREAT SAVE by Nilson. He looked beaten there.
44th: Yellow card for Huggel. What a surprise there!
3 minutes of added time
End of the first half: Gross might consider bringing on Chipperfield, Basel’s have to improve their game here.
Beginning of the second half. No changes.
46th: Yellow card for Marco Aurelio.
50th: Yellow for Safari. 4 Guimaraes players booked to Basel’s two.
52nd: EREN DERDIYOOOOOOKKKK!!!! BASEL LEAD AGAIN! 2-1 Great pass by Stocker! The two starlets of Switzerland have given Basel the lead!
54th: SUB, Felipe on for Marco Aurelio.
60th: SUB, Coral on for Alves.
63rd: So I thought it would be, SUB, Chipperfield on for Gelabert.
70th: SUB, Roberto on Fajardo.
73rd: Yellow for Moreno. A physical game by the Portuguese.
Not much to report, 6 minutes to go. Basel really needs to score a third, the tension is high here.
86th: INCREDIBLE! Vitoria’s 2-2 goal is disallowed for an offside! But there was no offside! How lucky for Basel!
90th: SUB, Ferati on for Ergic. 4 minutes of extra-time.
IT’S OVER!!! BASEL ENTER THE GROUP PHASE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THAT EPIC 2002-2003 SEASON!!!

Basel defeats Goteborg 4-2
In the second leg of the second round of the Champions’ League, Swiss Champions FC Basel have defeated Swedish Champions IFK Goteborg 4-2, totalling a 5-3 aggregate.
Christian Gross’ men came from a goal behind with 20 minutes left. The guest team was leading 2-1 at the 70th minute yet goals by Chipperfield and Ergic ensured Basel’s qualification.
The three “survivors” of the epic 2002-2003 season (when Basel kicked out Liverpool in the Group Stage and after that claimed famous wins against Juventus and Deportivo La Coruna) proved to be decisive in this second leg: Huggel, Chipperfield and Ergic.
Huggel scored the equaliser 10 minutes after Wernbloom’s opening goal that had given the Swedish team the vital away goal. Yet the young Scandinavian prodigy Soder gave the guests a new advantage that seemed to plunge Basel in a nightmare.
Chipperflied took Gjasula’s place and gave the home team a breather following his equaliser on Derdiyok’s assist at the 71st minute.
Yet Serbian International Ergic became the star-player of the last 10 minutes. He struck a post at the 80th before scoring on a penalty at the 84th minute and completed his masterpiece in extra-time to take away all hope from the Swedish side.
Christian Gross said: “To win after having been led twice: I can only congratulate my players. (…) To kick out the Swedish Champions is a great result. The game against Vitoria (Guimaraes) will be harder. Yet with this team, one can win anything!”

Next Wednesday Basel will defy Portuguese newcomers Vitoria Guimaraes for a spot in the lucrative group stage. Following the epics of 2002-2003 and FC Thun in 2005, we can only hope that Switzerland will be part of a challenging new European season.

Basel – IFK Göteborg 4:2 (1:1)
St.-Jakob-Park. – 18 846 Spectators – Referee: Richmond (Scotland).
Goals: 18. Wernbloom 0:1. 27. Huggel 1:1. 52. Söder 1:2. 71. Chipperfield 2:2. 84. Ergic (Penalty) 3:2. 93. Ergic 4:2.
Basel: Costanzo; Zanni, Abraham, Marque, Safari; Huggel, Carlitos, Ergic, Gjasula (61. Chipperfield), Stocker (79. Perovic); Derdiyok.
Göteborg: Christensen; Adam Johansson, Bjärsmyr, Jonsson; Niclas Alexandersson, Olsson (79. Svensson), Eriksson, Hysen (71. Selakovic); Söder (74. Daniel Alexandersson), Wernbloom.

Bellinzona draws with leaders Aarau
In today’s 6th Matchday game AC Bellinzona drew with FC Aarau. Bellinzona opened the score through Lustrinelli at the 20th minute before Mutsch’s equaliser at the 43rd minute. Aarau dominated the second half, hitting the crossbar at the 78th minute. This is Bellinzona’s second point in 4 games while Aarau have 11 points from 6 games and are the only undefeated team in the league.

AC Bellinzona – FC Aarau 1:1 (1:1)
Stadio Comunale. – 4227 Spectators – Referee Rogalla.
Goals: 20. Lustrinelli 1:0. 43. Mutsch 1:1.
Bellinzona: Gritti; Siqueira-Barras (82. Raso), Mangiarratti, La Rocca, Bernardet; Sermeter (53. Conti), Mehmeti, Wahab, Gashi; Lustrinelli, Roux (70. Kalu).
Aarau: Benito; Menezes, Rapisarda, Page, Elmer; Mutsch, Burki, Bastida, Nushi (69. Tarone); Ianu, Rogerio (63. Guerrero).

Zuberbuehler signs for Fulham
Former Switzerland International Pascal Zuberbuehler has signed for Premier League side Fulham whose coach is Roy Hodgson (who coached Switzerland too). He has signed a one-year contract and will have to fight for his place with experienced keepers like Schwarzer andNiemi. This is Zuberbuehler’s second time in England: he played at West Bromwich in 2006 before joining Neuchatel Xamax.

AC Bellinzona – Ararat Yerevan 3-1 (3-0)
Cornaredo, 3127 spectators. Referee: Jakov (Israel)
1-0 22nd Rivera, 2-0 31st Sermeter, 3-0 45th Roux, 3-1 53rd Mkoyan.
AC Bellinzona: Bucchi; Belotti, Mangiarratti, La Rocca, Raso; Sermeter, Wahab, Rivera (82e Ferrazza), Conti; Lustrinelli (62e Gashi), Roux (71e Neri).
Ararat: Parasyan; Calsani, V. Minasyan, Mkoyan, Petrosyan (49. Mehrabyan); A. Minasyan (46. Jeferson), Antonyan, Renato, Navoyan; Nranyan, Marcos.

And Vaduz are out of the competition
Once more FC Vaduz has failed to qualify for the second round of the UEFA Cup. The Liechtenstein team, after the 2-1 defeat in the first leg, was once more defeated 3-0 away at Mostar, Bosnia, against Zrinjski. The Bosnians opened the score at the 6th minute through Djuric, Sunjic added a second at the 26th minute and Matko ended Vaduz’ slim hopes at the 76th minute. Fejzulahi missed a penalty at the 63rd minute to add to the team’s distress.

Basel’s Champion’s League Draw
Waiting for the second leg of their duel with IFK Goteborg, FC Basel has found out that if they do qualify for the third round they won’t have to defy Atletico Madrid or Galatasary, but Vitoria Guimaraes!
The first leg will be played on the 12th and 13th of August in Portugal while the second leg will be played on the 26th and 27th in Basel.
Vitoria Guimaraes is a team from from Guimaraes, 40km N-E of Porto, who came third in last year’s Portuguese league. Before that in the 2006-2007 season they were playing in the 1st Division following a relegation in the previous season. Games are played at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Stadium that can host almost 30,000 spectators. After Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon this is the team that attracts the most fans.
Basel has a big advantage because the Portuguese championship doesn’t start until the 22nd of August and according to the technical director of Basel, Ruedi Zbinden, Basel has a great opportunity to qualify for the Group Stage even though he admits that the Portuguese team is no piece of cake.
There are no notable players but this is a solid team, especially back in defence, although it does lack international experience.

UEFA CUP Draws
The first leg of the Second Round of the UEFA Cup will be played on the 14th of August and the return leg a fortnight later.
FC Zurich will play against Austria’s Sturm Graz (renewing once more the Swiss-Austrian rivalry). The Austrian team qualified through the Intertoto Cup after kicking out Budapest Honved on a 2-1 aggregate and Shakhtyor Soligorsk on a 2-0 aggregate. Sturm are currently fourth in the Austrian standings with two wins and one draw and can count on the quality of Samir Muratovic and former Austrian International Mario Haas but shouldn’t prove to be an impossible hurdle for FC Zurich.
Grasshopper will play against Polish Lech Poznan who kicked out Azerbaijan’s FK Khazar Lankaran on a 5-1 aggregate in the first round. The Polish Championship hasn’t begun yet and Lech ended last year’s season with a 4th place. Lech can count on several South American players and forward Piotr Reiss who has played in Germany.
Young Boys will play against the Hungarians of Debrecen who have kicked out FC Shakhtyor Karagandy with a 2-1 aggregate in the first round. The Hungarians came second in last year’s season and have just started their championship. Dangerous players include Tamas Sandor (who also played in Israel) and Brazilian-Hungarian Leandro de Almeida.
AC Bellinzona instead have a long trip to Ukraine to make. The Ticino team will play against FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and might be the only Swiss team that has a hard task. The Ukrainians ended last season with a 4th place and have started their championship with a defeat and a draw. Dangerous players include Belarussian forward Kornilenko, forward Vorobey (who has played over 220 games with Shaktar) and many other players who are regulars for the Ukrainian national team (Rusol, Kernozenko, Shelayev, Rotan and Nazarenko).

Draw:
Champions’ League: Basel/IFK Goteborg – Vitoria Guimaraes
UEFA CUP:
FC Zurich – Sturm Graz
Grasshopper – Lech Poznan
Young Boys – Debrecen
Bellinzona – FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

Plenty of action to follow! Stay tuned!