After two victories in the cup and championship, FC Basel is also looking to get back on track in Europe. However, Aston Villa, an English heavyweight, will be visiting St. Jakob-Park.
11.12.2025, 17:14
SDA
Ludovic Magnin operates in an environment that is often referred to as a "shark tank", especially in the tabloids. Voices have grown louder in recent weeks that the FC Basel coach would not be able to afford a slip-up with his team in either the cup round of 16 against Grand-Saconnex or the away match against Winterthur in the Super League without having to seriously fear for his future at the knee of the Rhine.
But the Lausanne coach is still afloat and has not yet been dragged into the abyss by the shark of immense expectations at all levels of FCB. Basel beat the Geneva club from the Promotion League 3:1, and thanks to Keigo Tsunemoto's goal in stoppage time at the Winterthur Schützenwiese to make it 2:1, they managed in extremis to leave the team bottom of the table without points after all.
Magnin's tactical gimmicks
So all's well and Magnin is suddenly back in the saddle? Hardly. It was nothing more than the fulfillment of two mandatory tasks that FCB managed in its last two games. The exorbitant inefficiency in front of goal that has accompanied the team in recent weeks, coupled with careless mistakes in defense - these are characteristics of this FCB that have not simply been blown away with two victories against blatant outsiders.
The fact that Xherdan Shaqiri started up front alongside Bénie Traoré against Winterthur is not only proof that the strikers in the squad around Albian Ajeti and Moritz Broschinski do not currently have the greatest self-confidence when they lace up their football boots. It also shows that even coach Magnin does not currently believe that his strikers can be the ones to help FCB regain consistency and success.
The tactical gimmick worked against Winterthur. On Thursday (9pm), however, a much stronger opponent awaits Basel. Aston Villa will travel to St. Jakob-Park, a team that is currently in third place and probably the strongest in the English Premier League. Unai Emery's team won 2:1 against leaders Arsenal at the weekend and are now just three points behind the leaders.
The quality that the team from Birmingham can bring to the pitch is undisputed. And yet two weeks ago, Young Boys lacked just a little bit of luck and would have snatched a point from Villa Park after an impressive second half.
Basel currently occupy 24th place, the last place that entitles them to a place in the knockout phase (round of 16). However, points would be worth their weight in gold in their final European appearance of the year to maintain their position and improve their starting position.
Lausanne searching for form
With just two wins in ten games, Lausanne-Sport have been going through a difficult phase in all competitions since the beginning of November. After being eliminated by Yverdon in the Swiss Cup, Peter Zeidler's players had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home against Nicosia and then suffered a 2-0 defeat in Poznan.
In Tampere, however, the Vaud team will face an opponent that has yet to get rolling in Europe. Kuopio, the Finnish defending champions and leaders of the national championship, have only won one game against Bratislava in the Conference League and have suffered two defeats and two draws.
