The new Super League season starts less than a week after the European Championship final. Defending champions YB are once again the favorites. Lugano presents itself as the first challenger.
20.07.2024, 04:01
20.07.2024, 08:09
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- On Saturday, just six days after the European Championship final, the season starts for the first half of the Super League teams.
- As blue Sport expert Rolf Fringer also points out in his analysis: 'The title goes through Young Boys again this season.
- Who can challenge the Bernese and who is more likely to have to fight against relegation? The teams in the check.
The framework remains the same as last season. For the second time, the Super League will take place with twelve teams and the adapted mode. This was largely satisfactory for the clubs and league management. The path to the division after 33 rounds was exciting until the very end. This was one of the reasons why league boss Claudius Schäfer announced that he was considering adjustments - such as an incentive in the form of a European Cup place for the best team in the relegation round.
It is questionable whether such a change, which would reward a lower-ranked team more than a team in the championship round, will be made. After all, the club presidents responsible for this issue have placed great value on sporting fairness in the past. The top four in the championship will also secure a European Cup place in 2024/25, with the fifth place going to the cup winners if they finish in the top four.
The big changes in the Super League have taken place on the coaching bench. Mattia Croci-Torti, who was appointed coach of FC Lugano less than three years ago, is the longest-serving coach in the league. Apart from the Ticino native, only Lucerne (Mario Frick), Lausanne-Sport (Ludovic Magnin) and Sion (Didier Tholot) are starting the new football year with a coach who has been with the club for at least a full season. Four clubs have made completely new appointments in this crucial position, including Young Boys with Patrick Rahmen.
The title favorite
Even with a new coach, YB will start the season as top favorites. Patrick Rahmen, who arrived from Winterthur, can draw on an outstanding squad to meet the requirements of the club management led by Christoph Spycher. In addition to the 18th league title, qualification for the Champions League and a somewhat more spectacular style of play are also among the goals in Bern's Wankdorf.
Above all, YB can stand in its own way. Last season, the Bernese almost managed to trip over their own feet. It remains to be seen how well the club is now positioned again. There is one or two luxury problems. In the goalkeeping position, YB is probably too well-staffed at the moment to have any peace of mind - with David von Ballmoos, Anthony Racioppi and Marvin Keller, who has returned from Winterthur.
The challengers
YB have only missed out on one league title since 2018: Two years ago, the trophy went to FC Zurich. Since then, FCZ has had two footballing years with more disappointments than successes. In recent weeks, sporting director Milos Malenovic has been able to put together a team for a full season for the first time. The 39-year-old has brought in over half a dozen new signings who "can help us progress immediately" and raised hopes. Now the players, some of whom come from different countries and are very young, still have to become a team.
FC Lugano is at least one step ahead of FCZ in this respect. The Ticino side are likely to be YB's first challengers, as the latest Super League rankings suggest: Fourth in 2022, third in 2023 and second last May. Although Jonathan Sabbatini, a club icon, has left, two 21-year-olds have arrived in Daniel Dos Santos and Mattia Zanotti, from whom much can be expected. Lugano should be even stronger than last season.
Whether the same applies to Servette is a little less clear. The goal scorer that was missing last season has still not been found. The very demanding René Weiler, who was very successful in his first year as coach at Geneva, winning the cup, is now head of sport and Thomas Häberli is the newly appointed coach. Julian von Moos is the best-known new arrival so far.
The stable ones
There are few new faces in Basel this time. For the first time under David Degen, FCB is focusing primarily on stability. With Fabio Celestini, the coach has remained, and the successes largely depend on those players who improved as a team towards the end of last season. Thanks to transfer income, Basel have the opportunity to improve their squad in the coming weeks.
In St. Gallen, the German Enrico Maassen is a new coach to replace Peter Zeidler, who moved to the Bundesliga after six years. Otherwise, much remained the same. Lukas Görtler, the captain who had been linked with a transfer on various occasions, was retained.
Lucerne lost its captain Ardon Jashari to FC Brugge and Max Meyer, another influential figure of the last two years. However, the same coach, Mario Frick, who has been in charge for two and a half years, has been retained and will be aiming to break into the top six with a few reinforcements.
Continuity in Valais too: FC Sion, which returned to the Super League as quickly as possible thanks to its good team spirit, wants to re-establish itself in the top division with its proven coach Didier Tholot and the promoted team.
The wonder bags
Lausanne-Sport has higher goals than just staying in the league. The Vaud club, which is funded by the British chemicals group Ineos, is hoping to make a leap forward after finishing 10th last season. In Stéphane Henchoz, a sporting director has been appointed who will have to work together with coach Ludovic Magnin. The team saw some notable departures, such as that of Donat Rrudhani. In return, Teddy Okou and Alban Ajdini, two players who had led Lausanne-Ouchy to the Super League just over a year ago, arrived.
FC Winterthur became somewhat of a victim of its success. The 35-year-old Ognjen Zaric, successor to Patrick Rahmen, will have to make do this season without the dribbling of Sayfallah Ltaief, who has moved to the Netherlands, and the goal assists of Adrian Gantenbein (Schalke 04). Instead, another fast player, Fabian Rohner, joined FCW.
Yverdon has to deal with even more changes. Many loan players have moved away, and top scorer Kevin Carlos could also leave the club in the coming weeks if a buyer can be found who is willing to pay the two million francs reportedly demanded.
The Grasshoppers, who have barely managed to stay in the Super League, have moved away from the Chinese-led approach of loaning out many players. In their first summer period in American ownership, the Zurich club have so far acted cautiously. Two young strikers from the Challenge League, Nikolas Muci and Simone Stroscio, are set to freshen up the offense. It doesn't look like the Barragistas from the end of May will make a leap into other spheres of the table at the moment.
