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Report nowIn the summer, YB signed Ramona Bachmann despite a recent cruciate ligament rupture. The 35-year-old talks to blue Sport about the reasons for the move, the development and level of Swiss women's football and her comeback plans.
Defending champions YB are well on their way to qualifying for the final, as they did last year, following their 3-1 away win against St.Gallen in the first leg. This is testament to the outstanding work of coach Imke Wübbenhorst and her staff. After the departures of top goalscorer Courtney Strode Liebermann (Austria Vienna), Iman Beney (Manchester City) and Naomi Luyet (Hoffenheim), nobody could have expected defending champions YB to be at the top of the table again this season. Even more so when captain Stephanie Waeber suffered a cruciate ligament rupture after the first championship match.
What's more, the team's star transfer Ramona Bachmann is not fit for action, although this was already known before she was signed. Bachmann also has to recover from a cruciate ligament rupture that she suffered shortly before the European Championships. But YB defied all the odds, advanced to the cup final(0:1 against Servette) and, after a 3:1 first-leg win away against St. Gallen, are on the verge of reaching the final. The second leg will take place on Saturday, May 16 (17:00) at the Wankdorf.
Shortly before the cup final and the subsequent play-offs, it initially looked as if Bachmann could make her first appearances for YB in the decisive phase of the season. But it doesn't turn out that way! Bachmann injured her foot. "That set me back a few weeks. But I'm very confident that I'll be back on the pitch soon," says Bachmann in an interview with blue Sport before the start of the playoffs.
However, it is "very questionable" whether she will be able to play in the playoffs. She needs to fully recover first, she agreed with the club. "Of course, my goal was to play a part in the playoffs, but now I'm just taking it step by step. If it still works out with the playoffs, all the better. And if not, then I'll be ready for next season," says Bachmann.
"The longing to return to the pitch is extremely great." Rehab demands a lot from her physically and mentally. But it is all the more rewarding to return to the pitch. Despite the injury, she has "got to know her new teammates well". On the one hand, she had already been integrated back into team training for the most part before her setback, and on the other, she had traveled to the training camp before the start of the season.
However, it is now clear that Bachmann will no longer be playing this season, as confirmed by YB's media department when asked by blue Sport.
The fact that a player of Bachmann's stature is returning to Switzerland at all must have surprised many in the summer. What tipped the scales? "I had very open and honest talks with YB. They are very goal-oriented and have a clear idea of the direction they want to take."
Following the termination of her contract in Houston and as a long-term injury victim, she saw this move as a good opportunity. "It was always clear to me that I would come back to Switzerland. And it felt right at the time."
Bachmann is a four-time Swiss Footballer of the Year (2009, 2015, 2019 and 2022) and has won various titles in Sweden (Umea and Rosengard), Germany (Wolfsburg) and England (Chelsea). Only in the USA (Atlanta Beat and Houston Dash) and France (PSG) have the really big successes failed to materialize. In 2015, Bachmann even made it onto the list of the ten best female footballers in the world. The only thing the 35-year-old has never won is the Champions League, a "fate" she shares with former world-class player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, among others.
Bachmann started her career at FC Malters, with whom she became Swiss champion and cup winner at U18 level in 2005. The following season, she was the youngest player in National League B before moving to the reigning Swiss champions, now FC Luzern. After six months, she topped the goalscoring charts and moved on to Sweden to take off at top club Umea alongside superstar Marta, a six-time world player (2006 to 2010 and 2018).
Bachmann made her debut for the national team back in 2007 and has since played 153 games for them, scoring 60 goals. She was an important part of the Swiss women's national team qualifying for the finals for the first time ever (2015 World Cup in Canada). She was also an important figure at the 2017 and 2022 European Championships and the 2023 World Cup. The 2025 home European Championships should have been the highlight of her career, but she missed out due to a cruciate ligament rupture. But she hasn't finished with the national team yet, as she reveals to blue Sport.
Find out what Ramona Bachmann thinks about the development and level of Swiss women's football in the video below.
