User:Huligan0/2014–15 FC Basel season

FC Basel
2014–15 season
ChairmanBernhard Heusler
ManagerPaulo Sousa
GroundSt. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
Super LeagueSeason starts on
19 July 2014
Swiss CupFinal to be played in
April 2015
Champions LeagueGroup stage starts on
16 September 2014

The 2014–15 FC Basel season is the 122nd season in club history and the club's 20th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Basel are the reigning Super League champions. They start their season with various warm-up matches against teams from Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. Their 2014–15 Swiss Super League season begins on 19 July with the away tie against FC Aarau.

Club edit

Management edit

First team manager is Paulo Sousa. On 28 May 2014 Basel announced that he had signed a three year contract.[1] His assistants are Ignacio Torreño, Victor Sanchez and Manuel Cordeiro (all three were brought in by Sousa). Massimo Colomba remained the Goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni is head of the FCB Youth System. Coach of the Youth Team (U–21) is Thomas Häberli.

Position Staff
Manager   Paulo Sousa
since 18 June 2014
1 Assistant manager Ignacio Torreño
2 Assistant manager Victor Sanchez
3 Assistant manager Manuel Cordeiro
Goalkeeper Coach   Massimo Colomba
Team Administration   Gustav Nussbaumer
Youth Team Coach   Thomas Häberli
Youth Team Co-Coach   Roland Heri

Last updated: 1 July 2014
Source: FCB Official Site

Further information edit

Chairman   Mr Bernhard Heusler
Vice Chairman   Mr Adrian Knup
Finances   Mr Stephan Werthmüller
Sportdirector   Mr Georg Heitz
Marketing   Mr René Kamm
Ground (capacity and dimensions) St. Jakob-Park (38,512[2])
(37,500 for international matches)[3] / 120x80 m)

Updated to match played 1 July 2014
Source: FCB Official Site

Overview edit

Offseason and preseason edit

At the end of the 2013–14 FC Basel season four first team players left the club to continue their careers elsewhere. These were Yann Sommer to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Valentin Stocker to Hertha BSC, Kay Voser to Fulham and Admir Seferagić to Schaffhausen. Also no longer in the team for the following season was David Degen who ended his football career. Basel's four biggest signings for the beginning of the new season were Tomáš Vaclík from Sparta Prague, Yoichiro Kakitani from Cerezo Osaka, Derlis González from S.L. Benfica and Shkëlzen Gashi from Grasshopper Club Zürich. Also new in the team were Luca Zuffi, who transfered from FC Thun, and Walter Samuel who came from Inter Milan on a free transfer.

Midseason edit

During the winter break to team members transferred into the Bundesliga, Serey Die to VfB Stuttgart and Marcelo Díaz to Hamburger SV. Giovanni Sio was sent on loan to Bastia from 1 February until the end of the season.

The Campaign edit

Domestic League edit

Basel's priority aim for the season is to win the league championship for the sixth time in a row. Basel's 2013–14 Swiss Super League season begins on 19 July with the away tie against FC Aarau.

Domestic Cup edit

Basel's clear aim for the 2014–15 Swiss Cup is to regain the title. In the previous two seasons they had ended both cup competitions as runners-up. They started in the first round on 23 August with the away tie in Geneva against CS Italien, a team from the 2. Liga (the sixth tier of the Swiss football league system). Matías Emilio Delgado, Breel Embolo, Fabian Frei and Shkëlzen Gashi scored the goals, in that order, as Basel won 4-0 to proceed into the second round. In the away tie, on 20 September, they also won 4-0 against Winterthur, the first goal being scored by Elneny and the other three from Embolo. The third round tie on 29 October saw Basel play away against Wohlen, who were then the Swiss Challenge League leaders. The Stadion Niedermatten was sold out, with over 4,000 fans, as Yoichiro Kakitani, Giovanni Sio and again Breel Embolo scored the goals as Basel won 3-1. The quarter-finals, which will played in February 2015, will be drawn on 3 December.

Champions League edit

Basel entered into the Champions League in the group stage. Their initial aim is to remain in the competition and reach the knockout phase. Basel were drawn into Group B against Real Madrid, Liverpool and Ludogorets Razgrad.

Real Madrid (16 September 2014)

Basels first game was on 16 September, the away tie against Real in the stadium Santiago Bernabéu. This first tie turned out very bad for Basel, Marek Suchý with an own goal after just 14 minutes started a bad phase, then Bale (30th min.), Ronaldo (31) and Rodríguez (37) scored further goals to put Real four goals ahead within just a few minutes. Although González (38) pulled one back soon after, Benzema (79) netted the last and Basel lost 1–5. Despite the fact that Basel had 48% ball possession, they were never really in the game.

Liverpool (1 October 2014)

The second tie was on 1 October at home to Liverpool. In front of a full house Streller scored the only goal of the game in the 58th minute and Basel won 1–0. According to the Eufa report[4] Basel had more ball possession (56%), more corners (8–4), less offsides (2–7), less yellow cards (1–3), less fouls (9–10) and more passes (430–322).

Ludogorets Razgrad (22 October 2014)

On 22 October Basel played their third tie away from home against Ludogorets Razgrad. After a good start by Basel, they were up against difficulties as from the 18th minute because Geoffroy Serey Die was shown a red card for a challenge on Cosmin Moţi. Basel fought well and it looked like it would end in a goalless draw until in the 92nd minute as Wanderson slipped a pass to Yordan Minev on the left. The full-back cut inside his marker onto his right foot and drilled at goal low from 20 metres, the ball sliding into the near corner with goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík caught wrongfooted. Ludogorets Razgrad won the game 1–0. At the end of the day, because Liverpool lost at home against Real, three teams were then equal on three points, Basel, Liverpool and Ludogorets Razgrad.[5]

Ludogorets Razgrad (4 November 2014)

The return match against Ludogorets Razgrad was on 4 November. Breel Embolo (34), Derlis González (41), Shkëlzen Gashi (59) and Marek Suchý (65) scored the goals as Basel played their best game in the Champions League and won 4–0.

Real Madrid (26 November 2014)

The return match against Real Madrid was three weeks after the Ludogorets Razgrad game on 26 November. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match as Real Madrid secured the top position in Group B and maintained their 100% record with the victory against Basel.

Champions League knockout phase edit

Basel's initial Champions League aim, to remain in the competition and reach the knockout phase was achieved herewith. With the draw to the round of 16 there were indeed hopes that the could reach the next round and the next aim was communicated as reaching the quarterfinals.

Porto (18 February 2015)

Basel were drawn with the first game at home in the St. Jakob-Park to Porto. It was great atmosphere in the stadium even before the teams emerged from the tunnel. There was a decent-sized pocket of Porto fans, but they did well to make themselves heard. The attendance was a total of 34,464 spectators. Basel started the game well and in the eleventh minute Fabian Frei floated a long ball over the top of the defence and Derlis Gonzalez controlled the ball well, his finish was clever with the outside of his right boot and it's ramped up the noise even further. It was Gonzalez's third Champions League goal of the season. Porto responded and took control of the match, suddenly the game had greater fluidity. Porto had up to 60% ball possession, they created chances, but Basel held on well. Eventually Portos efforts paid off as they were awarded a penalty in the 79' minute, Danilo scored from the spot. It was a precise penalty into the bottom corner to Tomáš Vaclík's right and Porto got the away goal that they so badly wanted. A total of nine yellow cards were given during the match. At the end both teams seemed content to go into the return fixture at 1–1. The furious, physical nature of the game had evaporated somewhat as the game approached the final whistle.[6]

Porto (10 March 2015)

Before this second leg, all talk was about how Porto would cope without Jackson Martínez, after their forward and captain was ruled out for "several weeks" with a groin problem. But the second leg in Estádio do Dragão started badly for Basel. Yacine Brahimi superbly executed a free kick in the 14th minute to put Porto one up. Any hopes that Basel had were vanquished soon after half-time as Hector Herrera made it 2–0, bending in a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Casemiro scored with a wonderful free-kick just a few minutes later. Finally it was Vincent Aboubakar's fine shot, after he turned around Walter Samuel, before rifling in from over 20 Meters with some 14 minutes left that gave the 4–0 result. Samuel, who conceded the set piece for the opening goal, ended the evening with another low because he was sent off. The second leg was fairer than the physically aggressive first leg, a total of four yellow cards and one red were shown during the return match[7] Basel's Champions League aims ended here, but can be described as a very successful adventure.

Players edit

First team squad edit

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 19 July but subsequently left the club after that date.

As of 1 July 2014[8]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   CZE Tomáš Vaclík
4 DF   SUI Philipp Degen
5 DF   SUI Arlind Ajeti
6 DF   ARG Walter Samuel
7 MF   SUI Luca Zuffi
8 MF   CIV Serey Die
9 FW   SUI Marco Streller (Captain)
10 MF   ARG Matías Delgado
11 MF   ALB Shkëlzen Gashi
13 DF   BUL Ivan Ivanov
14 FW   JPN Yoichiro Kakitani
16 DF   SUI Fabian Schär
17 DF   CZE Marek Suchý
18 GK   SUI Germano Vailati
19 DF   SWE Behrang Safari
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF   SUI Fabian Frei
21 MF   CHI Marcelo Díaz
23 GK   SUI Pascal Albrecht
25 FW   PAR Derlis González
26 DF   ARG Gastón Sauro
27 DF   SUI Naser Aliji
30 FW   CIV Giovanni Sio
33 MF   EGY Mohamed Elneny
34 MF   ALB Taulant Xhaka
36 FW   SUI Breel Embolo
37 DF   SUI Simon Dünki
39 MF   SUI Davide Callà

Out on loan edit

MF   SUI Darko Jevtić (on loan at Lech Poznań from 11 June 2014 until 30 June 2015)[9]
GK   SUI Mirko Salvi (on loan at Biel from 1 July 2014 until 30 June 2015)[10]

Transfers Summer 2013 edit

In edit

1 GK   CZE Tomáš Vaclík (from Sparta Prague)[11]
6 DF   ARG Walter Samuel (from Inter Milan)
7 MF   SUI Luca Zuffi (from FC Thun)
11 MF   ALB Shkëlzen Gashi (from Grasshopper Club Zürich)[12]
14 FW   JPN Yoichiro Kakitani (from Cerezo Osaka)
25 FW   PAR Derlis González (from S.L. Benfica)


Out edit

GK   SUI Yann Sommer (to Borussia Mönchengladbach)
MF   SUI David Degen (end of football career)[13]
MF   SUI Valentin Stocker (to Hertha BSC)
DF   SUI Kay Voser (to Fulham)[14]
FW   BIH Admir Seferagić (to Schaffhausen)[10]

Results and Fixtures edit

Kickoff times are in CET

Legend edit

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Friendly matches edit

Preseason edit

24 June 2014 (2014-06-24) Pre-season FC Basel   3 – 1[A]   Solothurn Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
20:00
  1. ^
    Note: The match was played over 2x 30 Minutes
Ar. Ajeti   24'
Sauro   38'
Embolo   57'
Report (in German)   23' Sasso Attendance: 750
Referee: Lionel Tschudi
27 June 2014 Pre-season FC Köniz   1 – 3   Basel Sportplatz Liebefeld
  73' Tugai Report   5' Delgado
  32' Zuffi
  53' Al. Ajeti
Attendance: 600
Referee: Lukas Fänhdrich
3 July 2014 Pre-season Wacker Innsbruck   0 – 3   Basel Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Željko Đokić   77' Report   15' F. Frei
  43' Streller
  52' Embolo
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Andreas Heiss
8 July 2014 Pre-season Basel   0 - 4   Sparta Prague Germany
18:00 CEST Report   5', 8' (pen.) Hušbauer
  46' Holek
  59' Nhamoinesu
Attendance: 100
Referee: Peter Sippel
12 July 2014 Pre-season Basel   2 – 1   Terek Grozny Neuried bei München
Streller   28'
Zuffi   85' (pen.)
(Report)   51' Aílton
  67' Kydriashov
Attendance: 250
Referee: Matthias Jöllenbeck
15 July 2014 Pre-season Basel   1 – 2   Schaffhausen Stadion Rankhof, Basel
Safari   83' (Report)   21' Almerares
  22' Tadić
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Alain Bieri (Solothurn)

Swiss Super League edit

First half of season edit

19 July 2014 Round 1 Aarau 1 - 2 Basel Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
17:45 Schultz   85' Summary   15' Embolo
  38'   76' Aliji
  78' Frei
Attendance: 3,644
Referee: Nikolaj Hänni
27 July 2014 Round 2 Basel 3 - 0 Luzern St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00 Streller   22'
Gashi   39'
Xhaka   58'
Callà   90+4'
Summary Lustenberger   56'
Jantscher   67'
Lezcano   73'
Attendance: 29,410
Referee:   Sascha Amhof
2 August 2014 Round 3 Thun 2 - 3 Basel Arena Thun, Thun
17:45 Kaluđerović   49'
Sadik   84'
Schindelholz   87'
Summary Streller   19'   85'
Gashi   27'   59'
González   74'
Schär   88'
Attendance: 9,214
Referee:   Alain Bieri
9 August 2014 Round 4 Basel 4 - 1 Zurich St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:00 Gashi   24'
Suchý   34'
Zuffi   39'
González   44'
Díaz   67'
Schär   71'
Kakitani   74'
Xhaka   81'
Delgado   87'
Summary Chikhaoui   27'
Chermiti   55'
Yapi Yapo   62'
Kecojević   90+4'
Attendance: 33,372
Referee:   Stephan Klossner
14 August 2014 Round 5 Basel 0 - 2 St. Gallen St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:00 Delgado   61' (Report)   29' Facchinetti
  40', 44' Bunjaku
  67' Rodriguez
  80' Herzog
Attendance: 27,483
Referee:   Nikolaj Hänni
17 August 2014 Round 6 Sion 2 - 3 Basel Stade Tourbillon, Sion
13:45 Vanczák   9'
Herea   69'
Carlitos   75' (pen.)
Rüfli   90+2'
Summary Elneny   7'
Gashi   19'
Suchý   31'
Streller   59'
Vaņins   84' (o.g.)
Degen   90+2'
Attendance: 11,800
Referee:   Stephan Studer
31 August 2014 Round 7 Basel v BSC Young Boys St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00 [ (Report)]
13 September 2014 Round 8 Grasshopper Club v Basel Letzigrund, Zurich
17:45 [ (Report)]
23 September 2014 Round 9 Basel v Vaduz St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:45 [ (Report)]
27 September 2014 Round 10 Basel v Thun St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
4 October 2014 Round 11 St. Gallen v Basel AFG Arena, St. Gallen
00:00 [ (Report)]
18 October 2014 Round 12 Young Boys v Basel Stade de Suisse, Bern
00:00 [ (Report)]
25 October 2014 Round 13 Basel v Sion St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
1 November 2014 Round 14 Basel v Grasshopper Club St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
8 November 2014 Round 15 Vaduz v Basel Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
00:00 [ (Report)]
22 November 2014 Round 16 Basel v Aarau St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
29 November 2014 Round 17 Zurich v Basel Letzigrund, Zurich
00:00 [ (Report)]
6 December 2014 Round 18 Luzern v Basel Swissporarena, Luzern
00:00 [ (Report)]

Second half of season edit

7 February 2015 Round 19 Grasshopper Club v Basel Letzigrund, Zurich
00:00 [ (Report)]
14 February 2015 Round 20 Basel v Sion St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
21 February 2015 Round 21 Young Boys v Basel Stade de Suisse, Bern
00:00 [ (Report)]
28 February 2015 Round 22 Basel v Vaduz St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
7 March 2015 Round 23 Basel v Thun St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
14 March 2014 Round 24 St. Gallen v Basel AFG Arena, St. Gallen
00:00 [ (Report)]
21 March 2015 Round 25 Luzern v Basel Swissporarena, Luzern
00:00 [ (Report)]
4 April 2015 Round 26 Basel v Aarau St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
11 April 2015 Round 27 Basel v Zurich St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
18 April 2015 Round 28 Sion v Basel Stade Tourbillon, Sion
00:00 [ (Report)]
25 April 2015 Round 29 Basel v Luzern St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
28 April 2014 Round 30 Vaduz v Basel Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz
00:00 [ (Report)]
2 May 2015 Round 31 Basel v Grasshopper Club St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
9 May 2014 Round 32 Zurich v Basel Letzigrund, Zurich
00:00 [ (Report)]
16 May 2015 Round 33 Basel v Young Boys St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]
20 May 2014 Round 34 Aarau v Basel Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
00:00 [ (Report)]
31 May 2014 Round 35 Thun v Basel Arena Thun, Thun
00:00 [ (Report)]
7 June 2015 Round 36 Basel v St. Gallen St. Jakob-Park, Basel
00:00 [ (Report)]


League table edit

Results summary edit
Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
6 5 0 1 15 8  +7 15 2 0 1 7 3  +4 3 0 0 8 5  +3

Last updated: 17 August 2014.
Source: Fussballdaten.de

Swiss Cup edit

23 August 2014 Round 1 CS Italien (GE) 0-4 Basel Stade des Arberes, Meyrin
17:00 Antonili   23'
Blanco   82'
(Report) (in German)   7' Delgado,
  30' Embolo,
  53' F. Frei,
  90+3' Gashi
Attendance: 2,650
Referee: Nicolas Jancevski
20 September 2014 Round 2 FC Winterthur v Basel Schützenwiese, Winterthur
00:00 [ (Report)]

UEFA Champions League edit

Group stage edit

16 September 2014 Round 1 Real Madrid   v   Basel Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
20:45 Report
1 October 2014 Round 2 Basel   v   Liverpool St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:45 Report
26 November 2014 Round 5 Basel   v   Real Madrid St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:45 Report
9 December 2014 Round 6 Liverpool   v   Basel Anfield, Liverpool
20:45 Report
Notes
  1. ^
    Ludogorets Razgrad will play their home matches at Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia instead of their regular stadium, Ludogorets Arena, Razgrad.

Sources and References edit

  1. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Paulo Sousa wird neuer Cheftrainer beim FC Basel 1893". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-05-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)
  2. ^ "Figures and facts". FC Basel 1893. 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/StatDoc/competitions/UCL/01/67/63/78/1676378_DOWNLOAD.pdf
  4. ^ Holyman, Ian (2014). "Streller strikes as Basel see off Liverpool". Eufa.com. Retrieved 2014-10-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Rötters, Matthias (2014). "Ludogorets late show downs ten-man Basel". Eufa.com. Retrieved 2014-10-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Santos, Carlos Jorge (2015). "Danilo earns Porto late draw at dogged Basel". Retrieved 2015-02-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Santos (2015). "Clinical Porto through to the quarter-finals". Eufa.com. Retrieved 2015-03-10. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  8. ^ "Das Kader – Spielerportraits". FC Basel 1893 (in German). fcb.ch. Retrieved 1 July 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Darko Jevtic leihweise zu Lech Posen". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-06-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)
  10. ^ a b FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Salvi leihweise zu Biel, Seferagic definitiv zu Schaffhausen". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-05-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)
  11. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Tomas Vaclik wird neuer Torhüter beim FC Basel 1893". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-05-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)
  12. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Gashi: Transfer vollzogen". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-06-30. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)
  13. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2014). "David Degen beendet seine Fussballkarriere". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-06-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)
  14. ^ FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Kay Voser wechselt zum Fulham FC". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-07-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (in German)