2017–18 FC Basel season

FC Basel
2017–18 season
Chairman Switzerland Bernhard Burgener
Manager Switzerland Raphaël Wicky
Ground St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
Super League 2nd
Swiss Cup Semifinals
Champions League Round of 16
Home colours
Away colours

The 2017–18 FC Basel season was the 125th season in club history and the club's 23rd consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Basel were the reigning Swiss Super League champions. The season started on the weekend of 22–23 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018.[1] They were also the Swiss Cup holders. The first round of the Swiss Cup was played on 13 August 2017. Basel were also qualified for this season's Champions League in the Group stage. The first round was played on 12 September 2017.

Club

Management

Raphaël Wicky was appointed as new first team manager and was given a two-year contract with an option for a third year. His assistant is Massimo Lombardo and further members of the training staff are Werner Leuthard and Marco Walker. Massimo Colomba is the Goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni is head of the FCB Youth System.

Position Staff
Manager Switzerland Raphaël Wicky
Assistant manager Switzerland Massimo Lombardo
Assistant manager
& Fitness Coach		 Switzerland Marco Walker
Goalkeeper Coach Switzerland Massimo Colomba
Fitness Coach Germany Werner Leuthard
Team leader Switzerland Gustav Nussbaumer
Youth Team Coach Switzerland Arjan Peço
Youth Team Co-Coach Switzerland Toni Membrino
Youth Team Co-Coach Switzerland Michaël Bauch

Source: FCB Official Site

Further information

The FC Basel annual general meeting took place on 9 June 2017. The previous board of directors under president Bernhard Heusler with sportdirector Georg Heitz, vice-president Adrian Knup, financial manager Stephan Werthmüller and marketing manager René Kamm stepped back. Reto Baumgartner, Dominik Donzé and Benno Kaiser remained on the board. Bernhard Burgener took over as chairmann and Marco Streller as sportdirector. [2] Peter von Büren was voted as financial manager and Patrick Jost in marketing.

Chairman Switzerland Bernhard Burgener
Vice Chairman Switzerland
Finances Switzerland Peter von Büren
Sportdirector Switzerland Marco Streller
Marketing Switzerland Patrick Jost
Direktor Switzerland Reto Baumgartner
Direktor Switzerland Dominik Donzé
Direktor Switzerland Benno Kaiser
Ground (capacity and dimensions) St. Jakob-Park (38,512[3])
(37,500 for international matches)[4] / 120x80 m)

Last updated: 10 June 2017
Source:FCB Official Site

Overview

Offseason and preseason

At the end of the 2016–17 FC Basel season Marc Janko left the club and joined Czech First League club Sparta Prague. Daniel Høegh also left the club and joined SC Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie[5] On 23 June 2017 Basel announced that Jean-Paul Boëtius had been transferred to Dutch club Feyenoord.[6] Seydou Doumbia's loan came to an end and Basel neither wanted to prolong nor enter the option to buy him. Adama Traoré left the club mid-August because he no longer played a part in the teams planning.

In the other direction Basel were not too busy on the transfer market. On 14 June 2017 Basel announced that they had signed Ricky van Wolfswinkel from SBV Vitesse.[7] A few days later, on 20 June, the club announced that they had loaned Dimitri Oberlin from Red Bull Salzburg.[8]

First half of season

During the season, on 13 September 2017 Basel announced that they had recalled striker Cedric Itten from the loan to Luzern.[9] Then following the injury suffered by Ricky van Wolfswinkel Basel were forced to hire another striker and on 2 October 2017 they announced that Albian Ajeti had been signed a five-year contract.[10]

Mid-season break

During the winter mid-season break there was also quite some movements on the transfer market. On 23 December 2017 FC Basel announced that Fabian Frei would return to the club, signing a four and a half year contact dated up until June 2022.[11] On 27 December the club announced that Samuele Campo, a former Basel youth player, was also returning, signing a four and a half year contact dated up until June 2022.[12] Furthermore, on 10 January 2018 the club announced that another former Basel player Valentin Stocker was also returning. Stocker signed a three and a half year contact dated up until June 2021.[13]

In the other direction, also on 10 January, Basel announced that Renato Steffen had left the club.[14] Steffen signed a three and a half year deal with VfL Wolfsburg. The transfer fee was reported as being 1.75 million Euro.[15] Just a few days later Basel announced that Akanji had transferred to Borussia Dortmund.[16] The transfer fee was reported as being 21.5 million Euro. He signed a four and a half year contract dated until June 2022.[17]

The Campaign

Domestic League

The season started on the weekend of 22–23 July 2017. Basel's priority aim for the new season is to win the league championship for the ninth consecutive time. Their first game was the match against Young Boys in Stade de Suisse which ended in a 0–2 defeat. Following three victories Basel played four games without a win (two draws, two defeats) and slipped down to fourth position in the league table. Following this poor start the following game was at home against Zürich. The game was a passionate battle and the home club titled their report: A passionately fighting FCB wins against FCZ 1:0.[18] The game changed the run of the season and afterwards the team won six and drawing three of the next nine games. By the mid-season break Basel had narrowed the gap to table leaders Young Boys to just two points, third placed Zürich were twelve points adrift.

Domestic Cup

Basel are the Swiss Cup holders. Basel's clear aim for the cup is to defend their title. The first round of the Swiss Cup started on 13 August 2017. In the first three rounds Basel were drawn away against lower tier teams, winning against FC Wettswil-Bonstetten, FC Chiasso and FC Rapperswil-Jona. Basel were then drawn at home against Luzern in the quarter-final. This was won 2–1 and Basel advance to the semi-final in the Stade de Suisse against Young Boys on 27 February 2018.

Champions League

Basel entered into this season's Champions League in the Group stage. They were drawn into Group A along with Manchester United, Benfica and CSKA Moscow. Basels initial aim is to remain in a European competition after the Champions League group stage. The first match was the away game against Manchester United. Basel were previously drawn with both Benfica and United in 2011–12 and on this occasion, United finished third in the group and dropped down to the UEFA Europa League.

Manchester United (12 September 2017)

The first game was played in Old Trafford, in proper Manchester weather in Manchester. Basel were sitting deep, with their three centre-backs, as United took control of the game from the very start. Marouane Fellaini came off the bench after 19 minutes to replace the injured Paul Pogba and opened the scoring with a powerful header in the 35 minute, which was only part of his Man of the Match performance. Basel played better after the opening goal and even at the beginning of the second half created their chances. But it was also a particularly special night for Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford, both of whom found the net on their Champions League debuts with second-half strikes. United took a corner short, Daley Blind to Juan Mata and when Blind took the return he crossed for Lukaku who outjumped Balanta to power home. in the 85 minute Fellaini crossed, the ball was missed by Mkhitaryan and Suchý before Rashford, opening his body, sidefooted into the ground and high into the net.[19]

Benfica (27 September 2017)

Basel ran out 5–0 victors at St. Jakob-Park in Basel against Portuguese side Benfica on Wednesday 27 September in an emphatic and much-needed victory for the Swiss club in the Champions League. Basel controlled the game from the start, Michael Lang (2) and Dimitri Oberlin (20) gave Basel a two-goal lead in the first half. Oberlin showed his amazing speed as he scored this goal. He made a clearance from a Benfica corner before covering the length of the pitch in mere seconds. Impressively, the 20-year-old composed himself after the run upon receiving the pass from Renato Steffen before sending the ball past the goalkeeper Júlio César.[20] Ricky van Wolfswinkel then added a third in the second half (60) with a penalty, before birthday-boy Oberlin scored his second (69) and Blas Riveros's goal in the 76 minute completed the rout. Benfica were reduced to 10-men in the as André Almeida was sent off for foul play in the 63 minute.[21]

CSKA Moscow (18 October 2017)

Match three of the Group Stage took Basel to the away game in the VEB Arena against CSKA Moscow. The game started slowly, the teams getting to know each other, indeed both teams looked very cautious in the beginning. But Basel took control after about ten minutes. Taulant Xhaka missed his first chance, but in the 29 minute he scored his first European goal in his 47th European match. The Albanian international cruised through the CSKA defence and shot the ball into the back of the net, a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. There was little reaction from CSKA players after conceding. Quite the contrary - the visitors grew in confidence and took more control. At the end of an energetic first half, the visitors had the majority of the possession. The hosts matched the energy of the Swiss side, but had not been able to make more than one attempt on goal (off target). It was a deserved lead at half-time and Basel looked the more dangerous in the second half. Ten minutes into the second half the assistant referee canceled out Basel's second goal for offside, after referee Björn Kuipers initially pointed to the centre circle. The decision came about 40 seconds after the visitors started their celebrations. Towards the end of the game Basel made themselves good chances. Dimitri Oberlin missed the target on two occasions, until eventually in the 90 minute he didn't miss. The Switzerland U21 international made his run from the halfway line and finished with composure, slotting it calmly in the corner of goal.[22]

Players

First team squad

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad. It also includes players that were in the squad the day the season started on 22 July 2017 but subsequently left the club after that date.

As of 2 October 2017[23]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Czech Republic GK Tomáš Vaclík
3 Ivory Coast DF Adama Traoré
4 Egypt DF Omar Gaber
5 Switzerland DF Michael Lang (Vice-Captain)
6 Switzerland MF Fabian Frei
7 Switzerland MF Luca Zuffi
9 Netherlands FW Ricky van Wolfswinkel
10 Switzerland MF Samuele Campo
11 Switzerland MF Renato Steffen
13 Switzerland GK Mirko Salvi
14 Switzerland GK Valentin Stocker
15 Sweden MF Alexander Fransson
17 Czech Republic DF Marek Suchý (Captain)
18 Switzerland GK Germano Vailati
19 Switzerland FW Dimitri Oberlin
20 Ivory Coast MF Serey Dié
No. Position Player
22 Switzerland MF Albian Ajeti
23 Colombia DF Éder Álvarez Balanta
24 Norway MF Mohamed Elyounoussi
25 Paraguay DF Blás Riveros
27 Switzerland FW Neftali Manzambi
28 Italy DF Raoul Petretta
30 Switzerland MF Cedric Itten
31 Switzerland MF Dominik Robin Schmid
33 Switzerland MF Kevin Bua
34 Albania MF Taulant Xhaka (Vice-Captain)
35 Portugal DF Pedro Pacheco
36 Switzerland DF Manuel Akanji
37 France FW Afimico Pululu
39 Switzerland MF Davide Callà
- Argentina MF Matías Delgado
- Serbia GK Đorđe Nikolić
- Switzerland MF Dereck Kutesa

Loans

In on loan

19 Switzerland FW Dimitri Oberlin (on loan from Red Bull Salzburg until 30 June 2018)[8]

Out on loan

22 Serbia MF Zdravko Kuzmanović (on loan at Málaga until 30 June 2018)[24]
- Switzerland DF Eray Cümart (on loan at Sion 30 June 2018)[25]
20 Switzerland MF Dereck Kutesa (on loan to Luzern from 14 September until 30 June 2018)[26]
30 Switzerland MF Cedric Itten (on loan at Luzern (ended early, on 13 September 2017))[27][9]
- Slovenia FW Andraž Šporar (on loan to Arminia Bielefeld until 30 June 2018)[28]
- Switzerland MF Robin Huser (on loan at FC Winterthur until 30 June 2018)[29]
- Serbia GK Đorđe Nikolić (on loan to Schaffhausen until 30 June 2018)[30]

Transfers summer 2017

In

9 Netherlands FW Ricky van Wolfswinkel (from SBV Vitesse)[7]
13 Switzerland GK Mirko Salvi (return from Lugano end of loan)

Out

-- Serbia MF Veljko Simić (released)[31]
-- Switzerland FW Nicolas Hunziker (to Thun)[32]
3 Ivory Coast DF Adama Traoré (to Göztepe S.K.)[33]
10 Argentina MF Matías Delgado (retired)[34]
21 Austria FW Marc Janko (to Sparta Prague)[35]
26 Denmark DF Daniel Høegh (to SC Heerenveen)[36]
77 Netherlands FW Jean-Paul Boëtius (to Feyenoord)[6]
88 Ivory Coast FW Seydou Doumbia (end of loan)[37]

Transfers winter 2017-18

In

3 Switzerland DF Léo Lacroix (from AS Saint-Étienne on loan)
6 Switzerland MF Fabian Frei (from Mainz 05)
10 Switzerland MF Samuele Campo (from Lausanne-Sport)
14 Switzerland MF Valentin Stocker (from Hertha BSC)

Out

11 Switzerland MF Renato Steffen (to VfL Wolfsburg)
36 Switzerland DF Manuel Akanji (to Borussia Dortmund)

Results and Fixtures

Kickoff times are in CET

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Friendly matches

Pre- and mid-season

Winter break

Swiss Super League

First half of season

Second half of season

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Young Boys (C) 36 26 6 4 84 41 +43 84 Qualification for the Champions League play-off round
2 Basel 36 20 9 7 72 36 +36 69 Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3 Luzern 36 15 9 12 51 51 0 54 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
4 Zürich 36 12 13 11 50 44 +6 49 Qualification for the Europa League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
5 St. Gallen 36 14 3 19 52 72 −20 45 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
6 Sion 36 11 9 16 53 56 −3 42
7 Thun 36 12 6 18 53 68 −15 42
8 Lugano 36 12 6 18 38 55 −17 42
9 Grasshopper 36 10 9 17 43 52 −9 39
10 Lausanne-Sport (R) 36 9 8 19 46 67 −21 35 Relegation to the Swiss Challenge League
Source: Swiss Super League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.[38]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Zürich qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2017–18 Swiss Cup.

Swiss Cup

The draw for the first round was held on 28 June 2017. The Super- and Challenge League clubs were seeded and could not be drawn against each other. The lower division teams were granted home advantage and Basel were therefore drawn away. The home advantage was also granted to the team from the lower league in the second and third rounds.

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Basel were qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League in the Group stage. The draw was held on 24 August 2017, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Basel were drawn into Group A along with Manchester United, Benfica and CSKA Moscow. The first match was the away game against Manchester United.

Matches
Group table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 England Manchester United 6 5 0 1 12 3 +9 15 Advance to knockout phase
2 Switzerland Basel 6 4 0 2 11 5 +6 12
3 Russia CSKA Moscow 6 3 0 3 8 10 −2 9 Transfer to Europa League
4 Portugal Benfica 6 0 0 6 1 14 −13 0
Source: UEFA

Knockout phase

Round of 16

Sources and References

  1. ↑ "Rahmenterminplan 2017/2018 - Calendrier 2017/2018" (PDF). www.sfl.ch (in German/French). Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  2. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2017). "Die 123. GV des FCB: Neuwahlen, Ehrungen und Überraschungen". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
  3. ↑ "The largest stadium in Switzerland". FC Basel 1893. 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  4. ↑ https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/StatDoc/competitions/UCL/01/67/63/78/1676378_DOWNLOAD.pdf
  5. ↑ "Daniel Hoegh wechselt zum SC Heerenveen". FC Basel 1893. 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  6. 1 2 "Boetius wechselt zu Feyenoord Rotterdam". FC Basel 1893. 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  7. 1 2 "Der FCB verpflichtet Ricky van Wolfswinkel". FC Basel 1893. 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  8. 1 2 FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Dimitri Oberlin wechselt leihweise zum FCB". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  9. 1 2 FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Cedric Itten zurueck zum FCB". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  10. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Albian Ajeti kommt zurueck zum FCB". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  11. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Fabian Frei kehrt zum FCB zurück". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  12. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Der-FCB-verpflichtet-Samuele-Campo". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  13. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2018). "Valentin Stocker kehrt zum FCB zurueck". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  14. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2018). "Renato Steffen wechselt zum VfL Wolfsburg". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  15. ↑ http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/714577/artikel_alles-klar_renato-steffen-wird-ein-wolf.html
  16. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2018). "Manuel Akanji wechselt zu Borussia Dortmund". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  17. ↑ Borussia Dortmund (2018). "BVB verpflichtet Schweizer Nationalspieler Manuel Akanji". bvb.ch. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  18. ↑ Marti, Caspar (2017). "Ein leidenschaftlich kämpfender FCB gewinnt gegen den FCZ 1:0". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  19. ↑ eurosport.com (2017). "Manchester United 3-0 Basel". eurosport.com. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  20. ↑ Lawless, Josh (2017). "WATCH: Basel Star Dimitri Oberlin Channeled His Inner Usain Bolt Last Night". sportbible.com. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
  21. ↑ thelocal.ch (2017). "FC Basel thrash Benfica in Champions League". thelocal.ch. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  22. ↑ espn.com (2017). "Basel stay second in Group A after seeing off CSKA Moscow". espn.com. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  23. ↑ "Das Kader – Spielerportraits" [The Team – Player Portraits]. FC Basel 1893 (in German). fcb.ch. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  24. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2016). "Zdravko Kuzmanovic leihweise zum FC Malaga" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  25. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Eray Cümart leihweise zum FC Sion". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  26. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Dereck Kutesa wechselt leihweise zum FC Luzern". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  27. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Der FCB verlängert den Vertrag mit Cedric Itten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  28. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Andraz Sporar leihweise zu Arminia Bielefeld". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  29. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Robin Huser leihweise zum FC Winterthur". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  30. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Nikolic leihweise zum FC Schaffhausen". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
  31. ↑ "FCB und Simic lösen Vertrag in gegenseitigem Einvernehmen auf". www.fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  32. ↑ "Nicolas Hunziker wechselt zum FC Thun". www.fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  33. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2017). "Adama Traore wechselt zu Göztepe SK". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-08-14.
  34. ↑ "Matías Delgado beendet seine profi-karriere". www.fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  35. ↑ "Marc Janko verlässt den FCB ende saison". www.fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  36. ↑ "Daniel Hoegh wechselt zum SC Heerenveen". www.fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  37. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2016). "Seydou Doumbia leihweise zum FCB" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  38. ↑ "Règlement de la compétition de la SFL" (PDF) (in French). sfl.ch. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  39. ↑ "Full Time Summary Round of 16 1st Leg – Basel v Manchester City" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
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