Following FC Basel's 21st league title, the Swiss media emphasized the significance of the triumph for the city and the club - after a long period of suffering and from the position of the underdog.
12.05.2025, 08:22
12.05.2025, 08:52
SDA
The championship title comes as a surprise as hardly any other, notes the "NZZ". For the Zurich newspaper, it is just as clear who made this success possible in the first place as it is for everyone else: Xherdan Shaqiri. "When people talk about FC Basel's 21st championship title, his name will be mentioned in the same breath," writes the Basler Zeitung.
"Le Matin" takes a critical view of FC Basel's coronation. For the French-speaking Swiss, Basel owe their title to the "mediocrity" of the competition this season.
CH-Media: "To say that FCB are champions because YB let them is not wrong, but only part of the truth. Especially against the Basel of the past few weeks, with that outstanding Shaqiri, even a YB in better form would have had to really stretch itself. (...) But they have to come to the realization that they have done more wrong than right in the recent past. And then have the courage to correct the mistakes. The loss of supremacy often happens faster than expected. FC Basel, seemingly untouchable in 2017 after winning their eighth championship title in a row, can tell you a thing or two about it."
Basler Zeitung: "Perhaps they will build a monument to Xherdan Shaqiri. If you think about what you think of first when you think of this success, then it's conceivable. Because whenever people talk about FC Basel's 21st championship title, his name will be mentioned in the same breath."
Blick: "In some cities, football is simply played. And then there are the cities where football is lived. There is exactly one of these in Switzerland: Basel. (...) When FCB make life difficult for themselves with all kinds of calamities on and off the pitch, it's a drama like nowhere else in the country. That's why the days when FC Basel is on top are all the greater. After eight years of failures, mishaps, Bernese and (the worst!) Zurich championship titles, they did it again on Sunday."
NZZ: "FC Basel has already won its 21st championship, but this title is not just another in its richly laden palmarès; it goes down in history as something special because it comes as a surprise like hardly any before. After all, it wasn't long ago that FC Basel was at rock bottom. (...) Now FC Basel has regained its footing, the only question is how sustainably it has recovered. And how much Xherdan Shaqiri covers up old problems."
Le Matin: "Basel is a champion without great fame, without prestige. It is undisputed because it was a little better than the rest and, especially in recent weeks, much more consistent than the others. That was enough in this Super League season, which can be quickly forgotten. Rarely in recent years has there been so much mediocrity."
