The 2013–14 FC Basel season is the 121st season in club history and the club's 19th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Basel are the reigning Super League champions. They started their season with various warm-up matches against teams from Switzerland, Serbia and Germany. Their 2013–14 Swiss Super League season began on 13 July with the home tie against FC Aarau and after the first six rounds they occupied just the fourth position in the league table, six points behind the leader Young Boys Bern. Beating the Young Boys in the seventh round, Basel started a run of 29 league games without defeat. At the end of the season Basel won the league championship for the fifth time in a row. They started in the 2013–14 Swiss Cup first round on 17 August with the away game against BSC Old Boys. Beating the Old Boy (1-0 after extra time) and after beating Münsingen 1–0 in the next round, they faced Tuggen in the third round, winning 3–1. In the quarterfinals they played in against FC Le Mont, winning 6–1 and qualified for a semifinal home tie in St. Jakob-Park against Luzern on 26 March. They reached the final, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time.
Basel's 2013–14 UEFA Champions League season started on 30 July 2013 in the third qualifying round with the tie in St. Jakob-Park against Maccabi Tel Aviv. After defeating Maccabi, they defeated Ludogorets Razgrad in the play-off round and qualified for the group stage. There they were drawn into Group E together with Chelsea, Schalke 04 and Steaua București. The group stage for Basel began on 18 September with the away game in Stamford Bridge where they notched a 2–1 win over Chelsea. Basel finished in third position in the league table and thus they qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League round of 32. Here the eliminated Maccabi Tel Aviv and in the round of 16 they beat Red Bull Salzburg thus advancing to the quarter-finals only to be knocked-out by Valencia.
First team manager is Murat Yakin. His assistants are Marco Walker and Markus Hoffmann and Massimo Colomba is the Goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni was appointed as head of the FCB Youth System. Coach of the Youth Team (U–21) is Thomas Häberli.
Basel's biggest signings at the beginning of the season were two players who had already played for the club before, Behrang Safari, who returned from RSC Anderlecht, and Matías Delgado who was signed on a free transfer from al-Jazira Club. Giovanni Sio from VfL Wolfsburg was a further signing and the fourth main signing was Ivan Ivanov who transferred in from Partizan[3] to replace Aleksandar Dragović who transferred to Dynamo Kyiv.[4]Park Joo-Ho left the club and signed for 1. FSV Mainz 05. Three further players, Cabral to Sunderland AFC, Markus Steinhöfer to Real Betis and Jacques Zoua to Hamburger SV, left the club on free transfers.
Midseason[]
In August Raul Bobadilla (following a personal incident with the traffic police) was sold off, in a hurry and cheap, to Augsburg into the Bundesliga. During the winter break Basel met an agreement with Aarau and the players Davide Callà (in) and Stephan Andrist (out) were exchanged. Mohamed Salah was transferred out to Chelsea for an estimated £13 Million. Basel also made an agreement with Spartak Moscow, receiving centre backMarek Suchý on loan until the end of the season.
The Campaign[]
Domestic League[]
Basel's priority aim for the season was to win the league championship for the fifth time in a row. Basel's 2013–14 Swiss Super League season began on 13 July 2013 with the away tie against FC Aarau which was won 3–1.[5] Basel are renowned for their slow starts into the new season and following two home wins and two away draws they promptly lost their third home match against FC Zürich 1-2. After the first six games they occupied only fourth position in the league table, six points behind the then leader Young Boys Bern, who they beat 2-1 in the seventh round.[6] But after the twelfth round (following five wins and a draw) they had turned the table and led the league two points ahead of the Grasshoppers. As it came to the winter break Basel were table leaders one point above Luzern. Basel had a run of 29 league games without defeat. At the end of the season Basel won the league championship seven points clear of their nearest rivals with a goal difference of +26. Thus Basel achieved their main priority aim that they had set for the season. This was their seventeenth title and the fifth title in a row.
Domestic Cup[]
Basel's clear aim for the Swiss Cup is to regain the title, in the last season they ended as runners-up. They started in the 2013–14 Swiss Cup first round on 17 August with the away game against BSC Old Boys. Beating the Old Boy (1-0 after extra time) and after beating Münsingen 1-0 in the next round, they faced Tuggen in the third round, which was played on 9 November 2013, Basel won the away tie 3-1. In the quarterfinals they should have played in Le Mont-sur-Lausanne against FC Le Mont on 5 December 2013. However, the game was postponed due to the weather and later rescheduled to be played in St. Jakob-Park, on 5 February 2014, but remaining as a home tie for Le Mont.[7] The quarterfinal game ended in 6–1 win for Basel and they qualified for a semifinal home tie against Luzern scheduled for 26 March which was won 1–0 and they qualified for the final. The final was held in the Stade de Suisse in Bern on 21 April 2014. Basel were beaten by Zürich 2–0 after extra time.
Champions League[]
Because Basel entered the Champions League in the qualifying phase their initial aim was to reach the group stage. Their 2013–14 UEFA Champions League campaign started on 30 July 2013 in the third qualifying round with the home tie in St. Jakob-Park against Maccabi Tel Aviv which ended with a 1-0 victory. The return tie ended in a 3-3 draw and after defeating Maccabi, they defeated Ludogorets Razgrad in the play-off round, 4-2 in Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, and 2-0 at home, thus qualifying for the group stage. With this result they achieved their initial aim.
In the group stage they were drawn into Group E together with Chelsea, Schalke 04 and Steaua București. Their next aim was to remain in the competition and reach the knockout phase. The group stage for Basel began on 18 September with they away game in Stamford Bridge where they notched up a surprising 2-1 win over Chelsea. Despite the fact that they followed this up with a 1-0 home win in the return fixture at St. Jakob-Park, Basel finished in the Group E the league table in just third position, because of the two defeats against Schalke and because they did not manage a win against Steaua. Thus they qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League round of 32 and their second aim was therefore not fully achieved.
Europa League[]
In the knockout phase of the Europa League Basel were drawn against the team that they had eliminated during the qualifying phase of the Champions League Maccabi Tel Aviv. The away tie, scheduled for 20 February, ended in a goalless draw and the second leg, played on 27 February 2014, was won by Basel 3–0. In the round of 16 Basel were drawn against Red Bull Salzburg. The first leg in Basel on 13 March 2014 ended in a goalless draw and the second leg, played a week later in the Red Bull Arena was decided by two goals from Streller and Sauro after RB Salzburg had taken an early lead.
The Quarter-finals draw paired Basel with Valencia. The first leg, a home tie, was won 3–0, but the away tie in Mestalla ended in a 3–0 win for the Spaniards who then won after extra time (5–3 on aggregate) after both Díaz and Gastón Sauro were both shown the red card within just a few minutes of each other. Despite this defeat, Basel's European aims were achieved, in fact they can be described as another successful one.
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 13 July but subsequently left the club after that date.
Last updated: 26 January 2014, 18:05 (UTC) Source: Squad statistics and Start formations
Only competitive matches.
Using the most used start formation.
Ordered by position on pitch (from back right to front left).
Bernhard Heusler
Markus Hoffmann
PRK
ARG
BUL
SWE
CIV
KOR
CPV
GER
CMR
CZE
EGY
10
Red Star Belgrade 
Feyenoord 
29
62
Maccabi Tel Aviv 
Chelsea
Steaua București
Valencia 