There is rumbling around FC Basel. The Swiss champions are currently not living up to their expectations and must initiate a turnaround against their former coach Thorsten Fink in Genk on Thursday.
27.11.2025, 05:00
27.11.2025, 12:09
SDA
The criticism is justified, said Ludovic Magnin after the 1:1 draw at Grasshoppers at the weekend. He could understand that the performance was causing unrest. "We're missing goals and points," the coach summed up. In the last five championship matches, the team, which had impressed with its attacking power in the championship season, has only managed one win and four goals.
For Magnin, the loss of points in Zurich was particularly painful: against an opponent who was missing a whole host of regular players and after the ten-day international break, during which some deficiencies should have been "trained away". There was no sign of the greater single-mindedness they were aiming for against GC, even if Basel's play improved somewhat towards the end. The bottom line is that FCB is currently lacking in many areas. From consistency and ease of play to efficiency.
Time is running out for Magnin. FC Basel have eight games in 24 days between now and Christmas. The next one is in Genk, third in the last Belgian championship. This season, the team of coach Thorsten Fink, who won the league twice (2010 and 2011) and the cup once (2010) with FC Basel, are not doing as well as they would like in the domestic league, finishing eighth. In the European Cup, however, there were strong results with wins at Braga and Glasgow Rangers and a draw against Betis Sevilla.
Bern test in Birmingham
With two wins and two defeats, FC Basel and Young Boys have the same decent half-time record in the league phase of the Europa League. However, the mood in Bern is much better. Under returning coach Gerardo Seoane, YB have recently regained the strength that made them Super League dominators. 4:1 in St. Gallen and 5:0 against Winterthur were strong signs.
"We were able to gain confidence going forward," said Seoane after the resounding win against Winterthur. "We played to nil and were serious right to the end." There were a lot of positives, the Central Swiss was pleased to report - albeit still noticeably cautious. "We have to keep that up even when things aren't going so well. Have the same attitude."
The acid test for the Bernese comes on Thursday evening in Birmingham at Aston Villa. Unai Emery's team are fourth in the Premier League after twelve rounds and their ranks include Argentine international goalkeeper and world champion Emiliano Martinez, Scottish captain John McGinn, Belgian internationals Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana and Dutchman Donyell Malen, who has joined from Dortmund.
The visit to the Champions League quarter-finalists of the previous season launches the second part of Bern's league phase, which is a tough one. Aston Villa will be followed by two home games against Lille (December 11) and Lyon (January 22) as well as an away clash against Stuttgart (January 29). Basel have the slightly easier remaining program with home games against Aston Villa and Viktoria Pilsen and an away game against Salzburg in between.
Lausanne at Polish champions
From a Swiss perspective, Lausanne-Sport have the best prospects of reaching the knockout round, as they are currently fifth in the table and could even make it directly into the last 16 of the Conference League. Peter Zeidler's team, who are still unbeaten in the league phase, play at Polish champions Lech Poznan on Thursday, before Kuopio of Finland away and Fiorentina at home in December as their final opponents in the six-round league phase.
