Young Boys will probably have to bury their title dreams for good after the 5-0 defeat in Lucerne. An appallingly weak performance from the champions.
13.04.2025, 20:08
13.04.2025, 20:12
SDA
"On your knees, on your knees", chanted the home fans after the final whistle as the FC Luzern players lined up in front of the curve for the celebrations. In the previous 90 minutes, the players in blue had brought the champions to their knees on the pitch. And how. Mario Frick's team sent the best team of the year home with a 5:0 win. A result that was not to be expected, but which was also completely justified at this level.
Bedia's unused chance
"We had too little intensity and too little quality on the pitch today," said Giorgio Contini, summing up his third Super League defeat as Bern coach. "It was a non-performance from A to Z - with the exception of the first 15, maybe 20 minutes."
In fact, YB played an even game in the early stages and came very close to scoring the opening goal through Chris Bedia (8'). However, the champions were unable to cope at all with Lucerne's game plan of switching quickly after winning the ball and "getting behind the chain", as FCL coach Mario Frick put it. Time and time again, the visitors, who had moved far back, allowed themselves to be countered. Even the dressing room speech did not bring any improvement. Just one minute after the restart, the visitors ran the Central Swiss into a knife again - the preliminary decision.
Contrasting emotions
After a disastrous start to the season and a brilliant comeback, it looked as though the champions might be able to get back into the title race after all. Now, after the draw against Yverdon in the Wankdorf, the Bernese team has suffered its second setback within a week. After the game, neither coach Contini nor goalkeeper Marvin Keller wanted to know anything about the title. The latter said: "We never talked about the title. After a game like this, it would be wrong to bring it up. We put in an unacceptable performance today, it was a collective failure."
Of course, the emotional situation was completely different on the other side. Frick spoke of an "extreme burden" that had been lifted before kick-off. Due to the draw between Lugano and St. Gallen, it was already clear before the game that Lucerne would be playing in the Championship Group for the European Cup places after the division of the league. "Now you can enjoy it, win for your loved ones," he said to his team in the dressing room.
Last week, Frick would have "preferred to send his squad home on foot" after their desolate performance against Grasshoppers in Zurich, but now his team put in their best performance of the season. Crazy football.
