Chris Bedia has already scored seven goals for Young Boys in all competitions this season. The Ivorian has arrived in Bern - and is now getting another showcase in the Europa League.
25.09.2025, 05:00
25.09.2025, 07:15
SDA
The rain pours down relentlessly on the Národný futbalový štadión in Bratislava. From minute to minute, the pitch becomes more difficult to play on due to the masses of water on it. But after a quarter of an hour, Edimilson Fernandes has a flash of inspiration and plays the ball deep. Alan Virginius and Chris Bedia both sprint off and the latter uses his body so skillfully that no defender can prevent him from finishing successfully.
This 1-0 win against Slovan Bratislava in mid-August was Young Boys' second-last step back into the Europa League. They took the last one a week later with a 3-2 win in the second leg at home. Bedia scored again, this time to make it 2-0, and set up the third goal by Armin Gigovic.
"These games against Bratislava set me on my way, so to speak," says Bedia. "Prendre le chemin des filets," he calls it. "And it feels good to be on this path," he adds with a laugh. Before the trip to the Slovakian capital, the 29-year-old had only scored twice against the amateurs of Courtételle (4:1) in the first round of the Cup, after which he scored three goals against Lugano (3:1) and Lucerne (2:1), which played a key role in helping Young Boys keep up with the leaders in the Super League.
The coach breathing down his neck
The Ivorian knows that it is the striker's lot to go through phases when things are not going so well. That a shot that a few weeks ago seemed to find its way into the goal blindfolded suddenly doesn't end up in the net even when the empty net is in front of you.
And yet it was on his mind when he experienced his first such phase in a YB jersey. After all, he was brought in at the beginning of February as a great hope. As the man who, with his goals, was supposed to bring a complicated and long unsatisfactory season for Bern to a conciliatory end. The fact that, after a promising start with three goals in his first two appearances, he then went nine games in a row without scoring was not part of the story. "That's part of football," says Bedia. "Things like that shouldn't be in your head. Check it off and concentrate on the next game."
This pragmatism comes across time and again in conversations with the attacking player. For example, when he talks about his early days in Bern, the first training sessions under Giorgio Contini, the video analyses and the moments when he once again had to realize that he hadn't done what the YB coach had wanted him to do. Contini knows exactly how the team should play, says Bedia. And his job is to score goals and listen to the coach's instructions. Bedia laughs. "He's always breathing down my neck and corrects me immediately if he doesn't like something. I can learn a lot and make progress."
The striker says that he also needed time to get used to the new system because he didn't often play in Contini's preferred 4-4-2 system before moving to Bern and therefore had to memorize the running routes first. Thanks in part to the joint preparation for the current season, however, it now works much better and he knows exactly what his team-mates are doing. "These automatisms don't make it easier to score goals, but you create more chances."
False promises in Berlin
Actually, everyone around YB would have loved for the team to prove this statement to be true, but last Saturday's performance at Brügglifeld did just that, as Young Boys failed to score against Aarau and had to bury their Cup ambitions after losing 1-0 in the second round.
"We didn't go into the game with the same energy as in previous matches," said Bedia, who also failed to make an offensive impact against the lowly Challenge League leaders. But just that: Thinking about the past is not in the nature of the Ivorian, who as a child emulated the Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor and would never have dared to dream of one day being as physically tall and strong as the former Manchester City star striker.
This mindset applies to botched cup games as well as foreign adventures that did not go according to plan: in January 2024, Bedia moved from Servette to Union Berlin with the reference of 31 goals in 68 games. The Bundesliga was always a goal of Bedia's because the attacking, fast style of play appeals to him. And when Nenad Bjelica, the Berlin coach at the time, signaled that he absolutely wanted him in the team, Bedia didn't hesitate for a second and moved to the German capital.
But after just seven partial appearances, he had to realize that not everything that sounds good is actually good. "If the people in charge don't back you, you have to accept that," said Bedia, who was not happy with a loan deal at English second division side Hull City. "I have no regrets. I really wanted to take this chance to play in the Bundesliga. And I know that I can hold my own at this level."
The showcase in Bern
Now at Young Boys, Bedia will have the chance to show his qualities on a regular basis again. Bedia is on loan from Union until the summer of 2026, after which the Bernese have an option to take the striker on permanently. The Ivorian says that he is not thinking about what might happen in the future, but simply wants to give his all at all times. But of course he also knows that YB can offer him a showcase that could give him another chance to prove himself in one of Europe's top five leagues.
Especially if he continues to be as accurate as he was in the pouring rain in Bratislava in the league phase of the Europa League, where Young Boys will welcome Panathinaikos Athens at home on Thursday (21:00).
