After one of the most thrilling qualifying spurts in history, the National League will continue to be high stakes from Tuesday. The play-in provides a foretaste of the play-offs.
04.03.2025, 05:00
04.03.2025, 07:37
SDA
Of the 14 teams, ten still have a chance of becoming champions after the 52 rounds of qualifying. Six places in the play-off quarter-finals have been allocated, with Kloten, the SCL Tigers, the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and Ambri-Piotta battling it out for the remaining two.
The fact that Kloten were still flirting with a direct place in the play-offs right up to the last day of qualifying can be described as the biggest surprise of the season. Just a year ago, the world looked very different for the traditional club. The five-time Swiss champions finished the qualifying campaign in 13th place, without a sports director and without a coach. As a result, hardly anyone believed that Kloten would even make it into the top 10 this season.
More derbies await
With 7th place, Kloten have exceeded all their goals for the season. Because Fribourg-Gottéron did their duty on Saturday with a home win against Ambri-Piotta (4:1) and thus defended 6th place, even a win in the cantonal derby at the ZSC Lions would not have been enough for the Zurich lowlanders to make the big sensation perfect.
But Kloten will not be resting on their laurels, especially not with further clashes with cantonal rivals and defending champions ZSC Lions awaiting them in the play-off quarter-finals. To make it that far, however, Kloten must get one opponent out of the way in the play-in.
In the first round, Kloten will face the SCL Tigers in a duel between seventh and eighth place. While the winner of this duel qualifies for the playoffs, the loser gets a second chance to do so in a duel with the winner of the play-in pairing between ninth and tenth. Here, the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers will face Ambri-Piotta.
12:0 points for Kloten
Looking at the past qualifying campaign, Kloten go into the race with the SCL Tigers as clear favorites. The team from Langnau has lost all four head-to-head duels this season after 60 minutes. However, there is great euphoria in Emmental with a view to a possible first play-off appearance since 2019. The Tigers also pulled off a surprise by finishing in 8th place.
The form curve also clearly favors Kloten, which has won four of its last five games after a small slump. The Tigers have only won one game in the same period, Saturday's home game against Ajoie (5:1).
Ambri's third attempt at a first win?
The clash between the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers and Ambri-Piotta looks more balanced at first glance. Both finished the regular season with 73 points. Three of the four head-to-head meetings also went into overtime, with Ambri coming out on top twice. Only Rapperswil-Jona managed to win once in regulation time.
Ambri-Piotta, who have only lost three of their last ten games, still have something to make up for from last year. The Leventines failed to win any of their four play-in games against Lugano and Biel. Ambri's dream team of Dominik Kubalik, the league's top scorer in qualifying, and the two Canadians Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Maillet will give them confidence that they can do it this time.
Minor mode adjustment
Compared to the premiere a year ago, the play-in mode has changed slightly. The points from the first and second legs are no longer added together, instead the added goal difference decides who progresses. Draws are still possible. If the score is equal after two 60-minute matches, extra time will decide the outcome. This is played with five outfield players and lasts until a goal is scored. There is no penalty shoot-out.
