On Thursday, another three Swiss teams will play for a place in the league stages. St. Gallen and Lugano will play their final qualifying match in Turkey, while Servette need an exploit.
29.08.2024, 04:30
29.08.2024, 07:21
SDA
The Turkish week for the Swiss clubs got off to an ideal start on Tuesday evening with Young Boys' victory at Galatasaray Istanbul. St. Gallen and Lugano no longer have to worry about the historically poor results of the Super League clubs in Turkey. They can take their cue from YB and gain some confidence from its exploit before St. Gallen travel to Trabzonspor and Lugano to Besiktas Istanbul to improve on their home draws.
St. Gallen and Lugano are not traveling to Turkey with a home win like the Bernese. But the 0-0 draw for the eastern Swiss and the 3-3 draw for the Ticino side leave the door open for a place in the league phase. While the Luganesi, who have at least qualified for the Conference League, are playing for more attractive opponents and greater income in Istanbul, everything is at stake for St. Gallen in the Conference League.
"Everything is open"
Eleven years ago, FC St. Gallen advanced to the group stage for the only time in the European Cup, which is now called the league phase with a new format. The circumstances were very similar back then. With a 1-1 home draw as a template, the team coached by Jeff Saibene at the time secured a 4-2 win at higher-ranked Spartak Moscow to progress. The fact that St. Gallen fell behind after 52 seconds in the second leg made the exploit even more memorable.
"Everything is open," announced coach Enrico Maassen before the trip to Trabzon on the Black Sea. " His confidence is based on his team's generally good results and in particular on the second half last week against Trabzonspor: "We won the ball quicker and kept it longer." You have to be courageous and believe in yourself, the German insists.
Confidence also at Lugano
Lugano kept themselves in the race last Thursday at home to Thun thanks to a lot of morale. Immediately after the Turks struck twice to make it 3:1, Mattia Croci-Torti's team struck back with two goals. The exploit against the 16-time Turkish champions is therefore still possible. Besiktas are not only warned because of their resistance in the first leg: last season, Lugano beat Besiktas 3-2 away from home in the group stage of the Conference League. This time, a win in Istanbul would take them into the preliminary round of the Europa League for the third time.
Mission impossible for Servette
Servette are in the worst possible position. If the Geneva side advance to the Conference League stage, they would make headlines across Europe, such is the clear division of roles in their clash against Chelsea. The Swiss Cup winners have to make up for a 2-0 handicap at the Stade de Genève - an annoying mortgage they suffered in London last week. Thomas Häberli's team would have deserved at least one goal. However, the hurdle against the star ensemble from the Premier League in the sold-out home stadium on Thursday evening seems too high.
