Swiss Cup
Basel's objective for the 2015-16 Swiss Cup was to win the cup. They finished second place in each of the previous three seasons: In 2013 against GC, in 2014 against Zürich, and in 2015 against Sion.
- Meyrin (15 August 2015)
In the first round, Basel was drawn away against FC Meyrin, who at that time played in the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of Swiss football. The match was played in Stade des Arberes, with an attendance of 2,100 spectators. Around the 34th minute, Matías Delgado headed a ball to Albian Ajeti, who connected with the ball through a left-footed shot, making it 1-0. Shkëlzen Gashi's pass to Mohamed Elneny opened the midfielder up to make the score 2-0. Just 60 seconds later Elneny on the right passed inside to Ajeti, assisting him in scoring his second goal that evening, and making it 3-0. Another two minutes later, Philipp Degen's low cross came to Delgado who then added to Basel's three-goal lead. The match concluded with Basel winning 4-0 and advancing to the next round. [14]
- YF Juventus (20 September 2015)
In round 2, Basel was drawn away against YF Juventus. Due to safety reasons, the match was played at St. Jakob-Park with an attendance of 4,606 spectators. It was a special game for Luca Zuffi as he played for Basel; his two brothers (Sandro and Nico) played for YF Juventus. 15 minutes into the match, Matías Delgado pushed a diagonal pass to the right, and Davide Callà connected with a right-footed shot to put Basel a goal up. Half an hour into the match Basel went up 2-0 with a cross from Callà on the right, which was complemented by Delgado's run to the far post to nod the ball home. Following a goal kick at 50 minutes, Nico Zuffi and Kakitani connected to make it 3-0. In the final actions of the match, Walter Samuel committed a foul. Samuel was given a yellow card, and YF Juventus were awarded a penalty by referee Alain Bieri. Mychell Ruan Da Silva Chagas converted the penalty kick, and the final score was 4-1 to Basel, advancing to the third round. [15]
- Muttenz (28 October 2015)
In the third round, Basel played against local amateur team SV Muttenz, the first time that the two sides played against each other in a competitive match. At that time Muttenz played in the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of Swiss football. The match was played at the Margelacker, with a stadium record attendance of 5,800. Shkëlzen Gashi, set up Daniel Hoegh's 1-0 after 25 minutes. Gashi himself went on to score a hat-trick in the match, his goals came at the 35th, 62nd, and 72nd-minute mark. Immediately after the break, Muttenz responded by converting a penalty, awarded through Manuel Akanji's foul on Thomas Eggenberger. In the 75th minute, Albian Ajeti converted a penalty kick to make the final score 5-1, advancing to the quarterfinal. [16] [17]
- FC Sion (13 December 2015)
In the quarterfinal, Basel played away against FC Sion, the same team they lost to in the previous season's final. The match was played in the Stade Tourbillon with an attendance of 9,200 spectators. The match allowed Basel the opportunity to redeem their defeat in the previous season's final. Sion went 1-0 up in the 37th minute, from a goal by Pa Modou, and in the 66th minute, Ebenezer Assifuah added a second. In the 79th minute, Elneny converted a free kick to make it 2-1. In the 89th minute referee Stephan Klossner awarded Basel a penalty after a duel between Léo Lacroix and Breel Embolo, Marc Janko scored the penalty kick. In extra time, the score remained tied, leading to a penalty shootout. Reto Ziegler missed for Sion, but Birkir Bjarnason and Walter Samuel both missed for Basel. Sion advanced to the semi-final 4-3 on penalties. [18]
- Conclusion
Sion were beaten 3-0 by FC Zürich in the semi-final. FC Zürich faced Lugano in the final, beating them 1-0, FC Zürich were crowned champions.
From the FCB's point of view, the domestic cup campaign was a disappointment due to not meeting the set goal. Additionally, It was their fifth defeat of the season, and their second season of getting knocked out by FC Sion in the domestic cup.
Champions League
Basel entered the season's Champions League in the third qualifying round. The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015, and Basel was drawn against the Polish site Lech Poznań.
- Lech Poznań (29 July 2015)
The first leg was played in Poznan at the INEA Stadion with an attendance of 25,478 spectators. The home team had the first two proper chances of the game. Nevertheless, Basel took the lead in the 24th minute, and Michael Lang headed the ball home from a corner by Luca Zuffi. Just two minutes later, Poznań equalized with a header from Denis Thomalla. At the 66th-minute mark, Lech defender Tomasz Kędziora saw a red card as he brought down Bjarnason in the box. Basel was awarded a penalty; nevertheless, keeper Jasmin Burić saved Shkëlzen Gashi's penalty. Right around the 77th-minute mark, Marc Janko hammered a loose ball home to give Basel the lead. In the 2nd minute of injury time, Davide Callà scored a goal. The final score concluded with a 3–1 win for Basel in Poznan.
The second leg was played in Basel at St. Jakob-Park, on 5 August, with an attendance of 18,196. The 3-1 cushion from the first leg meant coach Urs Fischer's team could afford breathing space in the second leg. Most of the match was uneventful due to Basel's pragmatic approach to the match, and Poznan's inability to break them down. Nevertheless, Birkir Bjarnason's goal in the final minutes of the match gave Basel a 1-0 lead and sealed the victory. To conclude, Basel advanced to the next round with an aggregate score of 4-1 over two legs.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv (19 August 2015)
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2015. Basel was drawn against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Both of the teams played each other twice in the 2013-14 season, once in the Champions League and after in the Europa League. Basel won on both occasions. The first leg of the tie was held at St. Jakob-Park with an attendance of 15,620 spectators. Basel started well, and was on top early. However, Marc Janko was injured in the 12th minute and was replaced by Shkëlzen Gashi. Maccabi Tel Aviv went 1-0 up in the 31st minute from Avi Rikan's free kick. In the final minutes of the first half, defender Tal Ben Haim fouled Delgado in the box. Basel was awarded a penalty, and Delgado converted to even things out at 1-1. At the 88th-minute mark, Breel Embolo put Basel in the lead by connecting with a pass from Elneny. Nevertheless, Maccabi was not done, six minutes into injury time Zahavi headed the ball home from Dor Micha's cross to make it 2-2. The final score in Basel concluded with a 2-2 draw.
Following the 2-2 draw at St. Jakob-Park, Basel needed a win away from home at the Bloomfield Stadium. The match was played on 19 August, with an attendance of 13,350 spectators. Early into the first half, Luca Zuffi's free kick put Basel up 1-0. However, Basel's lead did not last for too long. Nikola Mitrović's through ball found Eran Zahavi, Zahavi outran Walter Samuel, and his shot beat Tomáš Vaclík at the near post. Basel dominated for the rest of the match but failed to find the much-anticipated goal. The final aggregate score in Maccabi concluded with a 3-3 draw, Maccabi advanced due to an away goals advantage.
- Conclusion
From Basel's point of view, the Champions League campaign was disappointing as they missed their first objective of the season which was to participate in the season's Champions League group stage. However, their hopes for European glory were not diminished, due to getting an entry into the seasons Europa league.
Europa League
Because Basel failed to qualify for the Champions League group stage, they dropped into the 2015-16 UEFA Europa League group stage. The draw was held on 28 August 2015 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and Basel was drawn into Group I, together with Fiorentina, Lech Poznań, and Belenenses. The club's aim for the team was to remain in the competition over the winter break, preferably as group winner or otherwise in the second position, and thus advance to the knockout phase.
- Fiorentina (17 September 2015)
Basel's first game on matchday 1 was played away at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence with an attendance of 15,212 spectators. Fiorentina's new first-team manager was Basel's ex-manager, Paulo Sousa. Both teams started well, but the guests were quicker to deliver. Nikola Kalinić scored a goal in the fourth minute for Fiorentina, and despite being put under constant pressure by the visitors, they held on to the lead until well into the second half of the game. Fiorentina captain Gonzalo Rodríguez was sent off after 66 minutes. The Argentine saw the red card for his hard foul against Breel Embolo far away from his own goal, and therefore, his tackle was unnecessary. Following his dismissal, FCB took charge and succeeded in scoring the equalizer. Birkir Bjarnason beat home goalkeeper Luigi Sepe on 71 minutes with a low drive from 15 meters out. Eight minutes later, Mohamed Elneny sealed the fightback after a good build-up. His super-rising drive from outside the box completed the comeback success. With this 2-1 win, Basel extended their unbeaten run to five matches in Europe this term. [19]
- Lech Poznań (1 October 2015)
Matchday 2 was the first home game in the Europa League group stage and was against Lech Poznań, who had been opponents in the Champions League qualifying earlier in the season. Lech's Swiss midfielder Darko Jevtić was signed from Basel after a successful loan spell. The then 22-year-old was born in Basel and came through the youth ranks at the Swiss club. This was his second visit to the St. Jakob-Park and his second appearance for Lech, he had played double the number of times here for Lech as he had for FCB. The match was played in front of 17,567 spectators. The first half passed without much action, but the home team dominated. Icelandic midfielder Birkir Bjarnason brought a long ball down with his chest at the edge of the penalty area, kept his balance under pressure, and then turned a good finish past keeper Maciej Gostomski to give the hosts the lead after 55 minutes. In the 90th minute, Luca Zuffi made a cross from the right, Marc Janko controlled the ball with his chest and laid off for the waiting Breel Embolo, who finished with a powerful low volley. The final score of 2-0 was a deserved result. [20]
- Belenenses (22 October 2015)
The third game in the group stage was the home match against Belenenses. 17,275 fans were in the St. Jakob-Park on a cloudy evening. Basel took an early lead after 15 minutes, Matías Delgado delivered an inswinging corner kick toward the back post from the left and Michael Lang jumped highest to power his header into the goal from five meters out. Belenenses leveled after 27 minutes with their first chance. A long ball forward was headed clear by Marek Suchý, but it dropped to Luís Leal, who was 25 meters from the goal. He hammered a low volley into the bottom corner and the ball bounced high to evade the dive of Germano Vailati. During the extra time of the first half, Leal ran clear on the right flank, rushed into the penalty area, and played the ball beyond Vailati across the face of the goal to Kuca Miranda who had the simplest of finishes, tapping into the unguarded goal from just three meters. During the second half, Basel played forward non-stop, they created opportunities but were unable to score the equalizer. Up until this 1-2 defeat, Basel had been unbeaten this season, with nine games in the domestic league and six in Europe. [21]
- Belenenses (5 November 2015)
The return game against Belenenses on matchday 4 was played in Estádio do Restelo with an attendance of 4,802 spectators two weeks after the home game. The referee was Tamás Bognár of the Hungarian Football Federation. Basel took early command; a first chance came from Breel Embolo nine minutes into the match, after good dribbling, he hit the post. Basel continued to dominate their opponents with good moves but did not create good goal-scoring opportunities. It was not until near halftime that their efforts were rewarded. In the 44th-minute, Embolo was fouled in the penalty area by Filipe Ferreira, and Marc Janko scored from the spot. The Austrian international striker missed the next first-class chance in the 52nd-minute solo in front of the well-parring keeper Hugo Ventura. Embolo himself scored the second goal after being played free by Luca Zuffi's long deep pass into the penalty box which was flicked on by Janko. With this 2-0 victory, Basel avenged their matchday-three loss. Basel took command of the table and left Belenenses on the brink of elimination. [22]
- Fiorentina (26 November 2015)
Matchday 5 was Basel's third and last home match in the Europa League group stage was the return game against Fiorentina. Paulo Sousa returned to St. Jakob-Park, but this time to the visitors' bench. Basel's first-choice goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík injured himself shortly before kick-off and the new head coach Urs Fischer was forced to replace him. Fischer chose Germano Vailati and left Mirko Salvi on the bench. Basel had a nervous start to the game and Federico Bernardeschi ended his run of 11 games without a goal with a first-half double. The first came at 23 minutes. Jean-Paul Boëtius was put under pressure by three players, he lost the ball and the guests quickly switched over and Bernardeschi shot home after a clever through pass to make it 1-0. The second came on 36 minutes, a bad goal-kick by keeper Vailati was won by Fiorentina's midfield, 3/4 quick passes, and Bernardeschi side-footed home to give Fiorentina a two-goal lead. After 26 minutes, Facundo Roncaglia was punished with a red card by referee Ivan Kružliak from the Slovak Football Association after slamming his elbow into Breel Embolo's face. Basel fought their way back into the game, with Marek Suchý cutting the gap in the 40th minute. After a corner Luca Zuffi played a cross into the box, Embolo's header was parried by Luigi Sepe, but Suchý pushed the rebound in. Fiorentina defended the 2-1 lead largely sovereign, despite the visual superiority of the home team. There was a certain logic behind the fact that the FCB equalized following a standard. Following a corner, Mohamed Elneny equalized, at 74 minutes, from long range. Basel recovered after being two down to make it a 2-2 draw. Basel fought back to hold ten-man Fiorentina and stand three points above them in the group table. [23]
- Lech Poznań (10 December 2015)
Basel was certain to finish top of the group before matchday six. For their last match, they had to travel to the INEA Stadion in Poznań. Lech Poznań had already lost to Basel three times this season and only a win would have given them any chance of making it through Group I. Unable to play were four Basel defenders, Manuel Akanji, Philipp Degen, and Daniel Høegh due to injury and Marek Suchý was out suspended. Walter Samuel was nominated, playing this match, he made his 100th UEFA club competition appearance, a landmark evening for the veteran defender. Reserve goalkeeper Germano Vailati was again Basel's starter because of first-choice goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík's injury. In the 44th minute, Vailati injured himself as he played a long pass forward. Therefore, before half-time third-choice goalkeeper Mirko Salvi was substituted in and made his professional debut for the club. Adonis Ajeti also made his debut for the club after coming on as a substitute at half-time to replace Michael Lang. [24] Jean-Paul Boëtius scored the only goal five minutes after half-time, it was his first goal for the Swiss champions. FCB owed the victory to Jean-Paul Boëtius, Taulant Xhaka, and reserve keeper Salvi. Boëtius, because the Dutchman scored the 1-0 in the 50th minute, Xhaka because of his remarkable preparation down the right wing, and Salvi because he prevented Lech from equalizing with a strong one-on-one action a quarter of an hour before the end of the game. [25]
- Conclusion
Basel ended this stage as group winners and Fiorentina were runners-up and both advanced to the knockout phase which started in February 2016. As group winners, Basel was seeded, but Fiorentina was not. The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2015. Fiorentina was drawn against Tottenham Hotspur, but with a draw at home and a defeat at White Hart Lane, this meant they were eliminated.
From the FCB point of view, as group winners, their aim was positively achieved. Their next aim was to remain in the competition for at least another round or perhaps two. Basel was drawn against the French site Saint-Étienne. The first leg was played on 18 February at 19:00 and the return leg in the St. Jakob-Park was played on 25 February 2016 at 21:05.
- Saint-Étienne (18 February 2016)
The first leg of the round of 32 was played in the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard with an attendance of 27,013 fans against Saint-Étienne, but without Basel supporters due to the high-security alert following the terror attacks in Paris two months earlier. Basel went behind early, but came back from being two goals down, but ended up losing the match. Moustapha Sall in the fifth minute, following a free kick from the right that was flicked on to the far post, headed the ball across the goal and it bounced from the post first along and then over the line. Then Kévin Monnet-Paquet in the 39th minute headed a corner over Basel keeper Tomáš Vaclík into the net, to put the hosts 2-0 in the lead. Walter Samuel started Basel's fight-back just before half-time in the 44th minute, becoming the second-oldest goal scorer in the UEFA Europa League at age 37 years and 332 days; he is surpassed only by Molde FK's Daniel Hestad, who scored at age 40 years and 98 days in this season's group stage. A free kick on Basel's right flank was chested down by Breel Embolo and Walter Samuel, in falling, kicked the ball right-footed into the net. Soon after the break in the 56th minute, Marc Janko, via a penalty, put Basel level, and the guests continually pressed for their third goal. However, after a long clearance defender, Jean-Christophe Bahebeck scored for the home team in the 79th minute, against the run of play, to make the final score 3-2 in favour of Saint-Étienne. [26]
- Return match (25 February 2016)
The return game was played a week later in the St. Jakob-Park with an attendance of 20,976 fans. Basel had to win to qualify for the next round, which was very apparent as Basel played forwards immediately and levelled the aggregate score as midfielder Luca Zuffi curled in a 25-yard free-kick at the 15-minute mark. Saint-Étienne went close, but goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík saved the shot from substitute Romain Hamouma. Both teams were later reduced to ten men: In the 82nd minute, Saint-Étienne midfielder Valentin Eysseric collected two quick yellow cards for a foul and then a clash with Renato Steffen, while Basel's 19-year-old attacker Breel Embolo followed him off the pitch, also for a second caution. Saint-Étienne thought they had won it when captain Moustapha Sall netted from close range with just one minute of regular time left to play, only for Luca Zuffi to crash the ball home in added time to level the tie at 4-4 and send Basel through on the away goals rule. [27]
- Sevilla (10 March 2016)
In the round of 16 Basel was drawn against Europa League cup holders Sevilla. The first leg was played in the St. Jakob-Park with an attendance of 22,403 fans. Sevilla had not won a European away game all season and Basel's home fixture against them was one of the more sober kinds of games. At seven minutes, Renato Steffen sent a good cross from the right and Marc Janko jumped high to head Basel's first chance from an unmarked position just a little bit too wide. Sevilla dominated possession thereafter. Steven Nzonzi went quite close with a header in the early minutes. Éver Banega twice found Coke with free kicks but the Sevilla captain was unable to find the target from either position. After the halftime break, Basel's resolve returned. The home team dominated for the first 15 minutes. Birkir Bjarnason blazed a shot off target from a loose ball after a Renato Steffen shot had been blocked. The Icelandic midfielder then crossed a good ball across the goal from the right, but substitute Adama Traoré miscued his attempted conversion. Then they started to lose their concentration as the game continued, but three good saves from Basel goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík kept the home team in contention, he was very awake and saved with his feet after Nzonzi was played in from the right. Then he kept out Kevin Gameiro's low drive, going to the ground once more to repel Yevhen Konoplyanka as time ticked away. Basel got back into the game and started to dominate by moving forward quicker. Sevilla's midfielder Nzonzi's dismissal near the end of the game, after collecting two yellow cards within a few minutes of each other, offered Basel hope for victory, but Sevilla held firm. [28]
- Return match (17 March 2016)
The return game against Sevilla was played a week later on 17 March 2016 at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium with an attendance of 35,546 fans. The referee was Deniz Aytekin of the German Football Association and he reported a good pitch on the clear, but cool evening. Before the fixture, it was clear that FCB needed to perform exceptionally well, in order to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition. It would have been the fourth time in the club's history that FCB would have reached this stage of the competition. Sevilla and Basel both started slowly into the game, they sparred with each other, but gently and very inconsequentially for the greater part of the first period. The Spaniards had the better of the half-chances. Then, on 35 minutes defender Adil Rami opened the scoring as he stooped himself at full length, to head a José Antonio Reyes corner, from the left, into the goal for the opener, the ball came off Tomáš Vaclík's left-hand post. Despite this, an away goal at that stage of the match would have put Basel in advantage and they nearly managed that goal, keeper David Soria doing superbly to push away Renato Steffen's glanced effort. However, things unraveled very quickly for head coach Urs Fischer's side and the match slipped out of Basel's reach within just two minutes at the end of the first half. Reyes danced through the Basel defense, drawing Vaclík and his defenders toward him before placing a ball through for Kevin Gameiro to nudge the ball into the unguarded goal from close range. The Frenchman had his second goal before Basel had time to digest the situation. Just one minute later Michael Krohn-Dehli advanced with a quick run and was the provider of the cross that found Gameiro. The striker's header came back off the underside of the crossbar, yet he instantly swung out a leg to force the rebound over the line, hitting the woodwork again on its way in, to make it 3-0 at half-time. Basel showed only small signs of a fightback. Luca Zuffi's effort from 25 yards out was still rising as it flew over the crossbar. Breel Embolo missed two chances late in the game as the Swiss side was dumped out of the competition. The result extended Sevilla's run of Europa League home wins to 11, the longest in the competition's history, and put a dent in Basel's impressive away record in Europe this season. [29]
- Conclusion
Beating Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-final and Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-final, Sevilla advanced to the Europa League final. The final was played in the sold-out St. Jakob-Park in Basel with an attendance of 38,500 spectators on 18 May 2016 and Sevilla beat Liverpool 3-1, to win the competition. It was a dream for the club and the fans, as they made it three Europa League victories in succession. [30]
From the FCB's point of view, after being group winners and beating Saint-Étienne in the round of 32, advancing to the round of 16 was very positive. After a goalless draw in the first leg, FCB failed in the return leg against the defending cup holders Sevilla, losing disappointedly 3-0 in the away game at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. It would have been a dream for the FCB to have reached the competition's final in its stadium, but then that's what the competition is about at this level, dreams. On the whole, the team's European campaign was a successful adventure and the club's aims had been achieved.
Basel's goal scorers in the competition were: Birkir Bjarnason in 10 games, Breel Embolo in 8 games, Mohamed Elneny in 5 games, Marc Janko in 9 games, and Luca Zuffi in 10 games, each with 2 goals, and Jean-Paul Boëtius in 4 games, Michael Lang in 10 games, Walter Samuel in 6 games and Marek Suchý in 9 games, each with one goal. [31]
