The Swiss club football season ended on Sunday with the cup final - a season full of unpredictability and yet logical winners and losers. Seven special features of a quite extraordinary season.
Basel won 4:1 against third division side Biel on Sunday. A season with many uncertainties and surprises culminated in the Cup with the logical outcome. Which brings us to the big winner: FC Basel.
Basel's renaissance
With an average of 1.92 points per game, Basel are the champions with the lowest points average in the Super League era. For a long time, FCB was as inconsistent as the other title contenders, but unlike its rivals, it flipped the switch in the spring. With eleven wins from the last twelve games, it earned the double.
Yes, FC Basel are the logical champions and also the real cup winners. Competence is once again paired with unity and prudence in the management, and the fans are once again fully behind their club. In the end, the difference between Basel and Servette in 2nd place was a whopping ten points. This overlooks the fact that FCB were still in second place with nine rounds to go and had lost four of their first nine league games.
Shaqiri's second spring
It goes without saying that Xherdan Shaqiri played a major part in Basel's renaissance. The magic foot delivered at the highest level, was never injured and silenced all critical voices. Shaqiri scored an incredible 18 goals and 21 assists in the Super League. It is a mockery that Lausanne's diamond Alvyn Sanches, who has been injured since March, was voted player of the season due to the early voting deadline.
Zurich's self-dismantling
The Zurich city clubs are among the disappointments. The Grasshoppers were once again threatened with a fiasco. Only in the barrage against Aarau was the second relegation after 2019 avoided. Even under the new US management, there is still no sign of a turnaround. The anointed words at the takeover by LAFC have so far remained... a castle in the air. The new head of sport Alain Sutter is the main source of hope following the league win. At last, a decision-maker with stable smell and profound Super League knowledge - and an assurance of investments in a better future?

You can give GC rivals FC Zurich credit for one thing: It was never boring. Not because of the spectacle on the pitch, however, but because of the turbulence and squabbles off the pitch. Still leading the championship after round 16, FC Zurich managed the feat of missing out on the championship round. How did it manage this? In the effort to implement a performance culture with the all-powerful sporting director Milos Malenovic, soft factors were completely forgotten.
Issues such as Labinot Bajrami's father throwing an umbrella at coach Ricardo Moñiz, who was fired a week ago, the renewed personnel changes in the middle of the season despite the team's good position in the table and the signing of French world champion Benjamin Mendy, who was acquitted of rape charges in court but was highly controversial due to his problematic attitude towards women, caused constant unrest and much criticism. Seen in this light, FC Zurich's sporting decline was only logical.
Lugano and Servette missed their chance
The following impression remains with Lugano (4th) and Servette (2nd): they missed a great opportunity. The 2024/25 season would have been a chance to exploit the weaknesses of the competition.
Both stood in their own way. Lugano led the Super League in mid-February and also impressed in the Conference League. The squad seemed to have the necessary depth, but then suddenly not much worked out: out in the Cup against third-division side Biel, out in the Conference League round of 16 against Celje, drop out of the top three in the championship.

Servette went into November at the top of the table - and then only won one league game until the beginning of February. Geneva made life difficult for themselves by demoting top scorer Dereck Kutesa, who was willing to transfer.
The YB crash
Young Boys are leading the pack of weakening competitors. After six championship titles in seven years, almost nothing went right for the Bernese in the first half of the season. It took seven rounds until the first win, and it was not until the 10th round that the champions were no longer bottom of the table. Nevertheless, YB started to catch up under coach Giorgio Contini and qualified for the European Cup in third place. "Third place is the right position," admitted departing sporting director Steve von Bergen.
Forte's thwarted hat-trick
The Super League also offered excitement at the bottom of the table. With five rounds to go, Winterthur looked like a certainty to be relegated. However, Uli Forte brought the team back to life and led them to a well-deserved direct league survival. In doing so, Forte prevented his personal negative hat-trick. He had already been relegated as coach with FC Zurich and Grasshoppers. In his third stint in the Zurich Super League, he pulled off a minor miracle.
Yverdon were relegated to the Challenge League - the team that will hardly be missed in the top division, at least in German-speaking Switzerland.