FC Basel has to bury its dream of the Champions League. Although the disappointment is great at first, the "consolation prize" of the Europa League also offers the team opportunities.
28.08.2025, 00:25
28.08.2025, 07:08
SDA
"It's extremely bitter," said Dominik Schmid in an interview with SRF immediately after the match. Bitter, because FC Basel were certainly on a par with their opponents in the 2-0 defeat in Copenhagen. The fact that the visitors would not only keep pace in the Parken Stadium, but even have more possession, was not to be expected beforehand. The defender was all the more disappointed with how easily his team had let the game slip from their grasp.
FCB had kicked off in the second half and had to clear the ball out of their own net a good 40 seconds later. "It's far too easy to concede a goal," said Schmid. It was clear to him that the counter-attack should have been stopped somehow. Even with a foul if necessary. "We have to do that much better in future."
Not a blessing in millions
In international terms, the future now means Europe instead of the Champions League. The competition does not have the same appeal as the top flight. Pot 1 does not contain Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Manchester City, but teams such as Dinamo Zagreb, Betis Sevilla or Salzburg.
There are also financial cutbacks: Instead of 18.62 million euros, the starting bonus in the second-highest European competition is only 4.31 million euros. This is money that a club like FC Basel could well use to cover its structural deficit and make further investments in the team. Because, as was more than obvious against Copenhagen, FCB is not well-positioned enough across the board. It lacks the necessary maturity to compete at the highest European level.
Xherdan Shaqiri had already pointed out the lack of experience in the squad after the first leg. Even the two-time Champions League winner was only left with the realization in Copenhagen that it simply wasn't enough. "If we had been a bit more efficient up front and defended a bit better at the back...", he began the sentence, but then probably realized himself that that was too much of a subjunctive mood.
Collecting points for themselves and Switzerland
That's why Basel seem to be better off in the Europa League, even if it seems "extremely bitter" for them at first. Otherwise, the Swiss champions might have been threatened with a similar result to that of Young Boys last year, when the Bernese side picked up zero points from eight games. In the Europa League, Basel have a better chance of sporting success.
And it's not just FCB that needs this, but the whole of Swiss football. After all, Switzerland has fallen down the UEFA country rankings following its recent modest European performances. The Swiss Football League (SFL) has already set itself the goal of returning to the top 15 in this European Cup season. As long as this is not achieved, the chances of a Swiss team playing in the Champions League again one day will become increasingly slim.
Points are needed for the ranking, but one thing is clear: points are not given away in the Europa League either. FC Basel are no longer playing as light-heartedly as they did in the spring and need to find new solutions, especially in attack. At the moment, too much still depends on Shaqiri's form on the day. Copenhagen showed impressively what happens when the attacking artist is neutralized.
