After a botched start to the season, Young Boys set an exclamation mark with a 3:2 home win against Galatasaray. Champions League participation is a little closer, but not yet within reach.
No time? blue Sport summarizes for you
- YB wins the first leg of the Champions League play-offs against Galatasaray Istanbul 3:2.
- After a rocky start to the season, the Bernese seem to be slowly but surely getting into their stride. Joël Monteiro, who scored a brace, is the symbol of the champions' upturn in fortunes.
- If YB make it through to the league phase of the premier class, the signing-on bonus alone could be worth 18.6 million euros. In total, the Bernese could earn over 40 million francs.
Football is sometimes paradoxical: YB celebrated a victory against the Turkish champions that few had expected. And yet in the end, the Bernese mourned the missed chances. Especially the one in the 58th minute, when Ebrima Colley broke through on the left, ran towards the goalkeeper and pushed the ball past him - onto the post. That would have been 3:0 and "probably the final blow" for Galatasaray, as YB coach Patrick Rahmen said.
Instead, the visitors came back into the game and even equalized. You could see how ripped off the opponent was, said Rahmen. It was a look ahead to next Tuesday, when Galatasaray, with a good 50,000 fans behind them, will try to catch up.
In view of this, Rahmen was cautious. The 3-2 win against the opponents, who were clearly favored beforehand, was a nice success, but nothing more. Overall, however, the 55-year-old saw his team's performance as confirmation of the general upward trend that he has been observing since the beginning of the month.
Monteiro as a symbol
Joël Monteiro, who scored his first two goals of the season against Galatasaray, is symbolic of Bern's upturn in fortunes. In doing so, the 25-year-old reminded us why there was suddenly so much hype surrounding him in the spring. After his good performances in the championship, national coach Murat Yakin had publicly regretted that Monteiro's naturalization had not proceeded more quickly.
The Portuguese, who grew up in Valais, finally received his Swiss passport shortly before the European Championship and was called up for the preparations. However, Monteiro was unable to impress during the preparations and fell victim to the first squad cut. Rahmen also believes he knows why this was the case. "His body language is sometimes not so positive," explained the YB coach. But you would be doing him an injustice if you were to read too much into it. "He thinks differently than he appears."
According to Rahmen, Monteiro's motivation was clearly noticeable in the conversation. But of course he first had to digest his rapid rise and equally rapid fall in the national team. After a difficult start to the season, Monteiro shone in the Cup in the 10:0 win against Printse-Nendaz as a multiple provider and scored again against Galatasaray.
Million-dollar game in Istanbul
With Monteiro and Colley, YB have a strong wing-back pairing that put the Turkish defenders under pressure when pressing. The two attackers brought the intensity to the duels that had been largely lacking in the championship.
This is exactly how it must continue now, said Rahmen. "Even though we know that a cauldron awaits us in Istanbul." However, his team will not limit itself to defending its narrow lead. "We will also make the most of our opportunities there and aim to score more goals."
After all, there is not only a lot at stake for the club in sporting terms. In the Champions League alone, YB would receive 18.6 million euros as a starting bonus. In comparison: in the Europa League, the figure is 4.3 million euros. If you add possible points bonuses, ranking bonuses, value bonuses and ticket revenue, Young Boys would probably receive a total of more than 40 million Swiss francs if they took part in the Champions League. Bern's upswing, if it continues, has therefore come at the right time.