There is a spirit of optimism in Lugano: not only is the new stadium giving rise to dreams, but the team has also returned to the top of the table after a completely unsuccessful start to the season.
24.01.2026, 05:01
24.01.2026, 08:29
SDA
The Cornaredo will soon be a thing of the past. 75 years after its opening, FC Lugano will play for the last time in the venerable stadium this spring. It will then move to the AIL Arena, which is currently raising high hopes among the club's fans. The ultra-modern stadium with a capacity of over 8,000 seats should serve as an inspiration for young players and be a powerful argument in transfer negotiations. Above all, however, it should rekindle general interest in the club.
The small number of Tifosi has been an issue for the club for years. Around 64,000 people live in Lugano, making it the ninth-largest city in Switzerland after Lucerne and St. Gallen. Nevertheless, the club consistently comes last in the spectator statistics, unless Yverdon or Lausanne-Ouchy are represented in the league. This is despite the fact that Lugano have always finished in the top 5 in the last seven seasons and have collected the most points in home games so far this season.
Nevertheless, even with an opponent like YB, only just over 3,500 fans found their way into the stadium recently. The aim is to double this figure. With this vision in mind, club owner Joe Mansueto has invested generously. The club proposed over 100 modifications to make the stadium even more modern and impressive. The American entrepreneur supported the project with almost 20 million francs from his own pocket. The stadium does not belong to the billionaire, but to the city. The club will merely rent the stadium.
Hardly any attacking slogans
"I can hardly wait," CEO Martin Blaser recently told Corriere del Ticino. "It will be a radical change for the club." Lugano wants to establish itself as a top team in Switzerland in the long term. And it is no secret that the club is also dreaming of winning its first championship title since 1949. The financial resources and a powerful squad are in place. The new stadium should spark a euphoria that will carry the players to the end.
But what - apart from the often bleak fan backdrop - is actually an argument against targeting the championship title this season? Young Boys and Basel, the dominators of recent decades, are both currently struggling. Third-placed Lugano are currently seven points behind surprise leaders Thun. However, while the Bernese Oberland side now face YB, Basel and Servette, the Ticino side have two games against Winterthur and a visit to Grasshoppers in between.
Lugano will tackle these supposedly easier tasks with the confidence of a run of six unbeaten games and four wins in a row. They started the second half of the season with a 5:2 win in Lucerne. "It's a good trend and we have to keep it up," said coach Mattia Croci-Torti. However, the coach, players and club officials are holding back from attacking Thun and St. Gallen. The official objective is still to finish in the top 6 and thus reach the championship round.
Player dispute as an unnecessary weakening
It is possible that the Ticino side are still smarting from their poor start to the season. In the early fall, Lugano failed to qualify for the European Cup against Cluj and Celje, followed by the embarrassing cup exit against Cham from the Promotion League. In the championship, the team found itself in second-last place after six rounds. It would hardly have been surprising if the club had pulled the ripcord and let Croci-Torti go after four years as head coach. But those responsible held on to the 43-year-old and trusted that he would regain access to the key players. And he succeeded. It seemed as if some had only really got their heads back in the game when the summer transfer window closed.
Since then, the trend has been upwards, although not without downward spikes. Kevin Behrens' aggressive shoving of teammate Georgios Koutsias in a test match made international headlines. Behrens, who had already attracted negative attention in his career, was fined and banned from giving interviews, but was back on the pitch against Luzern and promptly scored two goals. "Now I hope that the great performance will help him and all of us to put the matter behind us," said Croci-Torti.
Koutsias, on the other hand, was absent, officially at his own request, and a transfer is on the cards. In view of the escalation, this would come as little surprise, even though Behrens has publicly apologized. It is an unnecessary sideshow in a season in which many things seem possible in this league. If Lugano manage to refocus on the essentials, the farewell party at the Cornaredo could turn out to be bigger than originally thought.
