2015–16 FC Basel season

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FC Basel

2015–16 season
Owner	FCB Holding AG
Chairman	Bernhard Heusler
Manager	Urs Fischer
Ground	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
Super League	Champions
Swiss Cup	Quarter-finals
Champions League	Play-off round
Europa League	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: Marc Janko (16) All: Marc Janko (21)
Highest home attendance	Swiss League: 33,360 vs. Young Boys (25 October 2015) Champions League: 18,200 vs. Lech Poznań (5 August 2015) Europa League: 22,550 vs. Fiorentina (26 November 2015)
Lowest home attendance	Swiss League: 24,558 vs. Thun (10 May 2016) Champions League: 15,620 vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv (19 August 2015) Europa League: 17,275 vs. Belenenses (22 October 2015)
Home colours Away colours
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 FC Basel season was the 123rd season in the club's history and the club's 21st consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Basel were the reigning Swiss Super League champions. They prepared for their season with various pre-season matches against teams from Ukraine, Germany and Netherlands. Their 2015–16 Swiss Super League season began on 19 July with a home game against Vaduz. By the winter break, having won fourteen and drawing one of the first 18 games, Basel led the league table by 10 points ahead of the Grasshoppers and 15 points ahead of the Young Boys.

Basel were qualified for the 2015–16 Champions League in the Third qualifying round. The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015 and they were drawn against Lech Poznań. The first leg was played on 28 July in INEA Stadion, and the return leg on 5 August 2015 in St. Jakob-Park. In the Play-off round, their opponents were Maccabi Tel Aviv, but Basel failed to qualify for the Champions League groups stage. Because of this, they dropped into the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage, where they were drawn into Group I alongside Fiorentina, Lech Poznań and Belenenses. Basel's first match was played away in Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence on 17 September 2015. Because they finished as group winners, Basel continued in the knockout phase (which started in February 2016), playing an away game against Saint-Étienne. In the round of 16, Basel played Sevilla, losing 0–3 on aggregate.

In the first round of the 2015–16 Swiss Cup, which was played on 15 August 2015, Basel were drawn away against Meyrin FC, winning 4–0. In the second round, played on 20 September 2015, Basel were drawn away against YF Juventus, winning 4–1. Then in the third round, played on 28 October, Basel were drawn away against SV Muttenz, winning 5–1. The fourth round was played on 13 December 2015, where Basel lost away at the Stade Tourbillon against Sion after a penalty shootout.

Club[]

FC Basel Holding AG[]

The FC Basel Holding AG owns 75% of FC Basel 1893 AG and the other 25% is owned by the club FC Basel 1893 members. The club FC Basel 1893 functions as a base club independent of the holding company and the AG. FC Basel 1893 AG is responsible for the operational business of the club; the first team, a large part of the youth department, and the back office are affiliated with them. All decisions that affect FC Basel 1893 as a club are made within the AG.

Club management[]

The FC Basel AGM took place on 27 April 2015 in Basel's congress center. The board of directors under president Bernhard Heusler with vice-president Adrian Knup, sport director Georg Heitz, financial manager Stephan Werthmüller and marketing manager René Kamm, and the three directors Reto Baumgartner, Dominik Donzé and Benno Kaiser were all willing to continue and they were all re-elected unanimously.^[1]

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

Updated to match played 27 April 2015
Source: FCB Official Site

Team management[]

Paulo Sousa quit his Trainer position in Basel at the end of the 2014–15 season. On 18 June 2015, Basel announced that Urs Fischer had signed a three-year contract as first team manager.^[4] His assistants are Marco Walker and Markus Hoffmann. Massimo Colomba remained the Goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni is head of the FCB Youth System. Coach of the Youth Team (U–21) was Thomas Häberli until October, at which time, due to the bad results, he had to step back and then Ceccaronii coached the team.

Position	Staff
Manager	Urs Fischer (since 18 June 2015)
1 Assistant manager	Marco Walker
2 Assistant manager	Markus Hoffmann
Goalkeeper Coach	Massimo Colomba
Team Administration
Youth Team Coach	Thomas Häberli Massimo Ceccaroni (since October 2015)
Youth Team Co-Coach	Roland Heri

Overview[]

Off-season and pre-season[]

At the end of the 2014–15 FC Basel season team captain Marco Streller retired from professional football. Between the years 2000 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2015 Streller played a total of 418 games for Basel scoring a total of 185 goals. 233 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 22 in the Swiss Cup, 70 were in a UEFA European-competitions (Champions League, UEFA Cup Europa League and UIC) and 93 were friendly games. He scored 111 goals in the domestic league, 9 in the domestic cup, 24 in European competitions and the other 41 were scored during the test games.^[5]

Five first team players left the club to continue their careers elsewhere. These were Derlis González to Dynamo Kyiv, Fabian Schär to 1899 Hoffenheim, Fabian Frei to Mainz 05, Serey Die to VfB Stuttgart and Giovanni Sio to Rennes. Further the contract with Arlind Ajeti was not prolonged.

As mentioned above Urs Fischer was the new first team manager. Basel's biggest signings for the beginning of the new season were Michael Lang from Grasshopper, Daniel Høegh from Odense, Zdravko Kuzmanović from Internazionale and Marc Janko, who came in on a free transfer from Sydney FC. Also new to the team are Manuel Akanji, who transferred in from FC Winterthur, and Mirko Salvi, who returned from his one-year loan to FC Biel-Bienne.

Because Streller retired, Matías Delgado was named as new captain; Marek Suchý and Kuzmanović were named as his vice-captains.

Mid-season break[]

During the winter break there were also a number of changes in the squad. On 14 January 2014, Ivan Ivanov suffered a knee injury in a friendly match against Eintracht Braunschweig, causing him to miss the rest of the 2013–14 season. Ivanov also missed the entire 2014–15 season due to the injury reoccurring. On 15 December 2015 he was released from the club in mutual consent, in order to be able to cope with his injury at his own pace.^[6] Also outwards was Zdravko Kuzmanović, who never quite managed to enter into the first team, on loan to Udinese^[7] Shkelzen Gashi, the previous season's top scorer, had in the meantime been relegated to reservist due to his bad form, decided to move on and signed for Colorado Rapids. Albian Ajeti,who also had been relegated to reservist due to his form, transferred to FC Augsburg.^[8] Yoichiro Kakitani, who never really acclimatised to Switzerland and only played a minor role in manager Fischer's team, was transferred out to Cerezo Osaka.^[9] However, the one transfer deal that made the most news was midfielder Mohamed Elneny's departure to English Premier League side Arsenal.^[10]

Due to the Elneny transfer, Basel were forced to react and they signed three midfield players. As early as 8 December 2015, the club announced that Andraž Šporar, from Olimpija Ljubljana, had signed a four-and-a-half-year contract up until the end of June 2020.^[11] Then, on 2 January 2016, the club announced it had signed Alexander Fransson from IFK Norrköping, also on a four-and-a-half-year contract.^[12] Again, on 12 January, they announced that Renato Steffen from Young Boys, had also joined them on yet another four-and-a-half-year deal.^[13]

2016–17 off-season[]

On 4 May, Basel announced that they had signed 18-year-old Paraguayan defender Blás Riveros on a five-year deal. Due to Riveros' commitments with the Paraguay national team at the upcoming Copa América Centenario, he was not expected to join the Basel first team until the beginning of July.^[14] On 10 May, Basel also announced that they had signed Egyptian defender Omar Gaber from Zamalek on a four-year deal.^[15][16]

The campaign[]

Super League[]

The club's primary objective for new manager Urs Fischer and the team in the new season was for them to win the Swiss Super League championship for the seventh consecutive season.

First half of season

Basel's 2015–16 Swiss Super League season began well with a home victory on 18 July against Vaduz. They followed this up with a 3–2 away win in the Letzigrund against the Grasshopper Club. In fact, they started the season very well, winning each of their first eight games, scoring 22 goals conceding 7. They suffered their first defeat in the Stade de Suisse 3–4 against Young Boys. Four of the next five games were won; the away game against Zürich in Letzigrund ended in a 2–2 draw. FCB suffered their first home defeat at the beginning of November against GC, who thus revenged themselves for the defeat at the beginning of the season and they climbed to second position in the table. Basel also lost their next game away against St. Gallen. These two defeats were followed by two further victories. By the winter break, Basel led the league table with 43 points, 10 points ahead of the Grasshoppers and 15 ahead of the Young Boys. They had won 14 and drawing 1 of the first 18 games, scoring 43 goals and conceding just 20.

Second half of season

Basel started the second half of the season with three straight wins, a 3–0 against Luzern, a 4–0 away win against GC and a 5–1 home win against Vaduz. In the first 15 games in this part of the season FCB won 11 and drew 4. In round 31, on 30 April, the home win against Sion gave Basel a 16-point lead in the league table with just five rounds left to play. They thus achieved the championship title early. Basel ended the last part of the season with two defeats in their last three games. FCB won the championship, Young Boys in second position, Luzern third and Zürich suffered relegation.^[17]

Conclusion

FCB collected 83 points and they were 14 points ahead of Young Boys and 29 points ahead of Luzern. Basel had won 26 games drawing five and had suffered five defeats. The Basel team had scored 88 domestic league goals, conceding 38. Marc Janko was the team's top scorer with 16 goals in 20 outings. He had scored a hattrick during the 4–2 home victory against Zürich. Team captain Matías Delgado was the second-best goal scorer with 11 goals and their best assist giver, he had given the final pass on 12 occasions. Equal third best scorers were Breel Embolo and Birkir Bjarnason, each netted 10 times. Luca Zuffi made the most appearances, he played in all 36 league games. Marek Suchý made 34 appearances and goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík had 30.

The club's aim of the championship title had been achieved.

Swiss Cup[]

Basel's clear aim for the 2015–16 Swiss Cup was to regain the title that they last won four seasons ago. In the previous three seasons they had ended the cup competition as runner-up. In 2013 against GC, in 2014 against Zürich and the previous season 2015 against Sion. In the first-round teams from Super League and Challenge League were seeded and could not play against each other. In a match, the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league, if applicable.

Meyrin (15 August 2015)

In the first round Basel were 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 and with 2,100 spectators was sold out. Basel had a tough fight in the first 30 minutes, the amateurs had the first chance of the game, but Manuel Akanji, making his debut for FCB was able to clear. Basel's first chance came in the 22nd minute, Albian Ajeti shot right footed from 15 meters, but the goalkeeper saved spectacularly. By the 34th minutes Matías Delgado headed a ball to Albian Ajeti, who ran on forwards and shot left footed across the goal to mark the opener. The amateur team were outplayed in the 58th minute, a long ball from Luca Zuffi was passed forward by Shkëlzen Gashi to Mohamed Elneny whose right footed shot dipped over keeper Grujicic's head into the net. Just 60 seconds later Elneny on the right passed inside to Ajeti and he scored his second goal that evening. Another two minutes later Philipp Degen's low cross came to Delgado who then added Basel's fourth goal. On 67 minutes Ajeti was denied his hattrick as the ball rebounded off the cross bar. On 85 minutes Yoichiro Kakitani's shot hit the post and soon after the final whistle was blown, Basel winning 4–0 and advancing to the next round.^[18]

YF Juventus (20 September 2015)

Teams from Super League were seeded in round 2 and the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league. Basel were drawn away against YF Juventus, which, due to safety reasons, was played at the St. Jakob-Park in front of 4,606 spectators. Interesting is that Luca Zuffi played for Basel and his two brothers, Sandro and Nico played for YF Juventus. Basel soon got the game under control. Exactly a quarter of an hour had been played, as Matías Delgado pushed a diagonal pass to the right and Davide Callà put them a goal up with a well placed right footed shot. After half an hour a cross from Callà on the right and Delgado ran to the far post to nod the ball home. On 38 minutes Yoichiro Kakitani hammered a shot against the post and one minute later Callà did too. Following a goal kick on 50 minutes, Nico Zuffi was involved in a duel with Kakitani, Kakitani kicked the ball to Delgado and he made it 3–0. On 67 minutes Luca Zuffi was substituted out, Mohamed Elneny came for him. On 80 minutes Zdravko Kuzmanović played Albian Ajeti free inside the box, but his shot hit the post, Callà netted the rebound. The last happenings belonged to the underdogs. Walter Samuel touched an on running forward who fell. Samuel was surprised as he saw the yellow card from referee Alain Bieri and Mychell Ruan Da Silva Chagas converted the penalty kick. Basel deservedly won 4–1 and advancing to the third round.^[19]

Muttenz (28 October 2015)

There was no seeding in the third round and the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league. Basel were drawn against local amateur team SV Muttenz, marking the first time that these two teams played against each other in a competitive game. 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 crowd of 5,800. FCB coach Urs Fischer's calculation worked out perfectly. He gave some top performers such as Tomas Vaclik, Michael Lang, Marc Janko and Breel Embolo a football-free evening. Fischer put other cracks on the bench without changing them. The players he used received their chance to recommend themselves. Shkelzen Gashi made the best use of this opportunity. Last season's top scorer, in the meantime relegated to reservists, scored three goals himself and set up another one, Daniel Hoegh's 1–0 after 25 minutes. Gashi's goals came in the 35th, 62nd and 72nd minutes. The outsiders from Muttenz were two goals down at the break, but immediately after the restart they were able to shorten the gap. Following Manuel Akanjis foul on Thomas Eggenberger, Manuel Jenni took the penalty and sent goalkeeper Germano Vailati into the wrong corner. The desired home goal was realized and the joy of the Muttenzer limitless. The final 5–1 score line came about as Albian Ajeti converted a further spot kick on 75 minutes. Even with the second selection, FCB reached the cup quarter-finals against their little neighbours without much effort.^[20][21]

Sion (13 December 2015)

In the fourth round Basel were drawn away against Sion and the match was played on 13 December 2015 in the Stade Tourbillon with an attendance of 9,200 spectators. The match gave Basel the chance to revenge themselves for the defeat in the previous season's final. The game was very nervous in the first 30 minutes and the only thing to report was an injury to Taulant Xhaka, who was replaced by Walter Samuel. Sion upped a gear, on 37 minutes Pa Modou put them a goal up and on 66 minutes Ebenezer Assifuah added a second. After that, Sion held FC Basel under control with impressive aplomb. But again, this season, FCB proved that they can get out of tricky situations without shining. In the 79th minute, a free kick from Mohamed Elneny landed in the goal of the unlucky Sion keeper Andris Vaņins. As a result, FCB pushed the equalizer with vehemence, but without playful brilliance. The game became increasing fast and somewhat rougher. The Sion team was shown five yellow cards, Basel seven. The guests' wide balls and the siege of the Sion penalty area paid off because referee Stephan Klossner decided on a penalty in the 89th minute after a duel between Léo Lacroix and Breel Embolo. Marc Janko converted it. In the extra time things remained level, despite the fact that Sion's Carlitos almost scored an own goal in the 114th minute. It came to a penalty shootout. Reto Ziegler missed one for Sion, but Birkir Bjarnason and Walter Samuel both missed for Basel. Sion advanced to the semi-final 4–3 on penalties.^[22]

Conclusion

Sion advanced to the semi-final, but were beaten 3–0 by Zürich, who advanced to the final against Lugano. Zürich won 1–0 and so won the trophy.

As from the FCB point of view, the fifth defeat in the 32nd game of the season (three in domestic league, one in the Europa League) was partly due to themselves and their passivity in the first half. The consequence is that after missing the Champions League group stage, another season's aim was not achieved.

Champions League[]

Basel entered into this season's Champions League in the Third qualifying round. Their initial aim was to remain in the competition and reach the group stage. The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015, Basel were seeded and were drawn against Lech Poznań.

Lech Poznań (29 July 2015)

The first leg was played in INEA Stadion with 25,478 spectators. Lech Poznań left their former Basler youth player out of the starting formation, in fact Darko Jevtić spent the entire match on the substitutes bench. As did Basel new team captain Matías Delgado. After a slow start, both teams got into the game. The home team had the first two good chances of the game. Then in the 20th minute the guests created their first, Behrang Safari on the left danced around two defenders and passed to the middle but new signing Birkir Bjarnason from short distance hit the ball just wide of the near post. Basel took the lead in the 24th minute as Michael Lang headed home after a corner taken by Luca Zuffi. Just two minutes later, however, Lech Poznań equalized through their new signing Denis Thomalla, who headed home after a Szymon Pawłowski long-distance shot had bounced back from the cross bar. The game was then level on possession until the break. After the interval, Basel had several chances. On 66 minutes, Lech defender Tomasz Kędziora saw the red card as he brought down Bjarnason in the box, but keeper Jasmin Burić saved the penalty from Shkëlzen Gashi. With one player more, the visitors dominated the game. A quarter of an hour after being substituted on, the Austrian striker Marc Janko benefited from the bad ball control by an opposing defender and hammered the loose ball home from short range in the 77th minute. Davide Callà in the 2nd minute of overtime completed the 3–1 away win, smashing home a long deep pass. After the restart there were only two minutes left to play and Lech Poznań tried to react. Łukasz Trałka was in duel with Taulant Xhaka, as Basler brought the Lech captain down. Xhaka was shown the red card by referee Anthony Taylor of the FA. One minute later he blew the final whistle.^[23]

Return match (5 August 2015)

The second leg in the St. Jakob-Park had an attendance of 18,196 spectators on this sunny evening. Referee was Frenchman Ruddy Buquet. Former Basler youth player Darko Jevtić was in the Lech Poznań starting formation, in the stadium where he had played his first professional match over 90 minutes, two years earlier on 1 August 2013. As expected, FC Basel left nothing to worry about in the third round of the Champions League qualification. Their qualification to the Champions League was never in serious danger against the Polish champions. With the 3–1 cushion from the first leg, coach Urs Fischer's team was on the safe side. But it was by no means a gala that Rotblau delivered during the game. Although they had the visitors under control for most of the time, they did not manage to create dominance. At times they were too passive, which the well-organized Lech players promptly used to present a few pleasant combinations. One of the best scoring opportunities for Lech came from Jevtic. The midfielder was able to have an effort from a good position after an hour, but the ball did not land in the net, it landed on the head of FCB central defender Marek Suchy. Basel's chances could be counted on one hand. The conclusion was that the hosts had run a compulsory program without shine. They met the minimum requirements. The Swiss champions won the return game thanks to a last-minute goal by Birkir Bjarnason 1–0 and advanced 4–1 on aggregate. Bjarnason headed a wonderful cross from Davide Callà and at the end there was still a goal to celebrate. The last-minute strike compensated the Basel fans for a rather mediocre performance from their team.^[24]

Maccabi Tel Aviv (19 August 2015)

The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2015. Basel were seeded, and they were drawn against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Basel had been drawn against Maccabi twice in the in 2013–14 season, knocking them out of both the Champions League and the Europa League. The first leg of this season's tie was held in the St. Jakob-Park with an attendance of 15,620 spectators on a cloudy evening. Basel started well and were on top early, their first chance came in 6 minutes, but Marc Janko's shot went wide. Then on 8 minutes Behrang Safari sent in a goof ball across the goal, but again Janko failed to connect. Janko was injured in the 12th minute and was replaced by Shkëlzen Gashi four minutes later. Basel continued to dominate. Then, by the 31st minutes the first attack for the visitors, a free-kick from the right by-line from Avi Rikan was side footed home short range by Eran Zahavi stood unmarked in front of the goal. Basel reacted, a Matías Delgado long range shot flew beyond keeper Juan Pablo but wide. On 39 minutes defender Tal Ben Haim fouled Delgado in the box, the fouled captain himself converted the subsequent penalty kick. In the second period Basel continued to dominate, but their efforts were not rewarded. A corner kick from Luca Zuffi after 75 minutes was headed home by Daniel Høeg, but referee Willie Collum of the Scottish Football Association decided on foul. On 88 minutes an opening pass from the middle line from Mohamed Elneny into the path of Breel Embolo, who slotted home between goalkeeper Juan Pabl’s legs as he advanced. This was a well deserved lead, but not the final score, because six minutes into added time Zahavi headed home from Dor Micha's cross to the 2–2 equaliser and to ensure that Maccabi denied Basel.^[25]

Return match (19 August 2015)

Following the 2–2 draw Basel required a positive result in the second leg played in the Bloomfield Stadium with an attendance of 13,350 spectators. Referee was Damir Skomina of the Football Association of Slovenia and he reported a good pitch on this clear warm evening with 28°C. Basel started well and with tempo, but Davide Callà put the first chance over the crossbar. On 11 minutes a fine curled free-kick from 25 metres by Luca Zuffi gave keeper Juan Pablo no chance. The advantage held only 13 minutes, Nikola Mitrović lifted his pass over the defence and Eran Zahavi out ran Walter Samuel and his shot beat Tomáš Vaclík at the near post. Basel dominated the rest of the game, but got no reward for their 65–35 ball possession. Basel had 10 to 2 corners, completed 405 to 218 passes, had 13 to 4 attempts 4 to 1 on target, but could not achieve the required positive result and the game ended with a 1–1 draw.^[26]

Conclusion

FCB missed their first aim of the season, its participation in the Champions League. Basel did not achieve more than a draw in the playoff second leg at Maccabi Tel Aviv. With an aggregate of 3–3 they have to drop to the Europa League because of the away goal rule. Therefore, it hurt all the more that they weren't more efficient during the first leg. On the other hand, offensively it in the second leg they didn't deliver enough.

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, 13:00 CEST, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and Basel were 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 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 fourth-minute opener 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 equaliser. Birkir Bjarnason beat home goalkeeper Luigi Sepe on 71 minutes with a low drive from 15 metres 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.^[27]

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 2–0 was a deserved result.^[28]

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 kicked an in swinging corner to the back post from the left and Michael Lang jumped highest to power his header into the goal from five metres 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 metres from 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, he rushed into the penalty area and played the ball beyond Vailati across the face of goal to Kuca Miranda who had simplest of finishes, tapping in to the unguarded goal from just three metres. 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, nine games in the domestic league and six in Europe.^[29]

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. Referee was Tamás Bognár of the Hungarian Football Federation. Basel took early command, a first chance from Breel Embolo after a good dribbling hit the post after nine minutes, and Basel continued to dominate their opponents entirely with good moves, but not creating good goal scoring chances. It was not until very nearly half time that their efforts were rewarded. In the 44 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 in the table and left Belenenses on the brink of elimination.^[30]

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 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 personal run of 11 games without a goal with a first-half double. The first came on 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 in the 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 equalizing on 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.^[31]

Lech Poznań (10 December 2015)

Basel were certain to finish top of the group before matchday 6. 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 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.^[32] 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 equalising with a strong one-on-one action a quarter of an hour before the end of the game.^[33]

Conclusion

Basel ended this stage as group winners and Fiorentina were runners-up both advanced to the knockout phase which started in February 2016. As group winners Basel were seeded, Fiorentina not. The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2015. Fiorentina were 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 were drawn against French side Saint-Étienne. The first leg was played on 18 February at 19:00 and the return leg in the St. Jakob-Park 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, he headed the ball across 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 was 3–2 in favour of Saint-Étienne.^[34]

Return match (25 February 2016)

The return game against was played a week later in the St. Jakob-Park with an attendance of 20,976 fans and Basel had to win to qualify for the next round. This was very apparent as Basel played forwards immediately and levelled the aggregate score as midfielder Luca Zuffi curled in a 25-yard free-kick on 15 minutes. 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.^[35]

Sevilla (10 March 2016)

In the round of 16 Basel were 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 kind of game. On 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 half time break Basel's resolve returned. The home team dominated for the first 15 minutes. Birkir Bjarnason blazing 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 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. Secilla'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.^[36]

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 perform exceptionally well, in order to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition. It would have been the fourth time in club's history that FCB would have reached this stage of the competition. Sevilla and Basel both started slow 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 unravelled 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 defence, 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 were 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.^[37]

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 for the fans, as they made it three Europa League victories in succession.^[38]

From the FCB 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 clearly 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 FCB to have reached the competitions final in their own stadium, but then that's what the competition is about at this level, dreams. On the whole, the teams 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.^[39]

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 18 July but subsequently left the club after that date.

As of 27 August 2015^[40]

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 3 DF  CIV Adama Traoré 4 DF   SUI Philipp Degen 5 DF   SUI Michael Lang 6 DF  ARG Walter Samuel 7 MF   SUI Luca Zuffi 8 MF  ISL Birkir Bjarnason 9 FW  SVN Andraž Šporar 10 MF  ARG Matías Delgado (Captain) 11 MF  ALB Shkëlzen Gashi 14 FW  JPN Yoichiro Kakitani 15 MF  SWE Alexander Fransson 16 DF   SUI Manuel Akanji 17 DF  CZE Marek Suchý (vice-captain) 18 GK   SUI Germano Vailati 19 DF  SWE Behrang Safari

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW  AUT Marc Janko 22 MF  SRB Zdravko Kuzmanović 23 GK   SUI Mirko Salvi 24 MF   SUI Renato Steffen 26 DF  DEN Daniel Høegh 27 DF  ALB Naser Aliji 28 MF   SUI Robin Huser 30 MF   SUI Cedric Itten 33 MF  EGY Mohamed Elneny 34 MF  ALB Taulant Xhaka 36 FW   SUI Breel Embolo 38 FW   SUI Albian Ajeti 39 MF   SUI Davide Callà 40 GK   SUI 41 DF   SUI Eray Cümart 42 DF   SUI Charles Pickel 77 FW  NED Jean-Paul Boëtius

Out on loan[]

19	MF	SUI	Musa Araz (on loan at Winterthur until 30 June 2016)
20	MF	SRB	Veljko Simić (on loan at Schaffhausen from 30 December 2015 until 30 June 2016)[41]
22	MF	SRB	Zdravko Kuzmanović (on loan at Udinese until 30 June 2016)[7]
23	GK	SUI	Mirko Salvi (on loan at Lugano from 7 January until 30 June 2016)[42]
24	FW	EGY	Ahmed Hamoudi (on loan at Zamalek until 30 June 2016)
27	DF	ALB	Naser Aliji (on loan at Vaduz from 1 July until 10 September 2015)
35	FW	PRK	Pak Kwang-ryong (on loan at Biel-Bienne until 30 June 2016)

2015 summer transfers[]

In[]

5	DF	SUI	Michael Lang (from Grasshopper Club Zürich Free Transfer)
8	MF	ISL	Birkir Bjarnason (from Pescara)[43]
21	FW	AUT	Marc Janko (from Sydney FC Free Transfer)
22	MF	SRB	Zdravko Kuzmanović (from Internazionale)
26	DF	DEN	Daniel Høegh (from Odense BK)
77	FW	NED	Jean-Paul Boëtius (from Feyenoord)

Out[]

—	FW	PAR	Derlis González (to Dynamo Kyiv)
—	DF	SUI	Fabian Schär (to 1899 Hoffenheim)
—	MF	SUI	Fabian Frei (to Mainz 05)
—	GK	SUI	(to St. Gallen II Free Transfer)
—	DF	ALB	Arlind Ajeti (to Unattached)
—	DF	ARG	Gastón Sauro (to Columbus Crew)
—	FW	IRL	Giovanni Sio (to Rennes)[44]
—	FW	SUI	Marco Streller (end of career)

2015–16 winter transfers[]

In[]

9	FW	SVN	Andraž Šporar (from Olimpija Ljubljana)[11]
15	MF	SWE	Alexander Fransson (from IFK Norrköping)[45]
24	MF	SUI	Renato Steffen (from Young Boys)[13]

Out[]

11	FW	ALB	Shkelzen Gashi (to Colorado Rapids)[46]
15	DF	BUL	Ivan Ivanov (contract beended mutual agreement)[6]
38	FW	SUI	Albian Ajeti (to FC Augsburg)[8]
14	FW	JPN	Yoichiro Kakitani (to Cerezo Osaka)[9]
33	MF	EGY	Mohamed Elneny (to Arsenal)[10]

Results and fixtures[]

Kickoff times are in CET

Legend[]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Friendly matches[]

Pre-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	Basel (C)	36	26	5	5	88	38	+50	83	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Young Boys	36	20	9	7	78	47	+31	69	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	Luzern	36	15	9	12	59	50	+9	54	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
4	Grasshopper	36	15	8	13	65	56	+9	53	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
5	Sion	36	14	8	14	52	49	+3	50
6	Thun	36	10	11	15	45	54	−9	41
7	St. Gallen	36	10	8	18	41	66	−25	38
8	Vaduz	36	7	15	14	44	60	−16	36	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[b]
9	Lugano	36	9	8	19	46	75	−29	35
10	Zürich (R)	36	7	13	16	48	71	−23	34	Qualification for the Europa League group stage[a] Relegation to the Swiss Challenge League

Swiss Cup[]

UEFA Champions League[]

Third qualifying round[]

The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 17 July 2015. The first leg was played on 29 July, and the second leg on 5 August 2015.

Basel won 4–1 on aggregate.

Play-off round[]

The draw was held on 7 August 2015.^[48][49]

Maccabi Tel Aviv won on away goals rule.

UEFA Europa League[]

Group stage[]

The draw was held on 28 August 2015, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and Basel were drawn into Group I.

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BSL	FIO	LCH	BEL
1	Basel	6	4	1	1	10	5	+5	13	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–2	2–0	1–2
2	Fiorentina	6	3	1	2	11	6	+5	10			1–2	—	1–2	1–0
3	Lech Poznań	6	1	2	3	2	6	−4	5			0–1	0–2	—	0–0
4	Belenenses	6	1	2	3	2	8	−6	5			0–2	0–4	0–0	—

Knockout phase[]

Round of 32[]

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2015. The first leg was played on 18 February, and the second leg played on 25 February 2016.

4–4 on aggregate. Basel won on away goals.

Round of 16[]

The draw was held on 26 February 2016. The first leg played on 10 March, and the second leg played on 17 March 2016.

Sevilla won 3–0 on aggregate.

See also[]

• History of FC Basel
• List of FC Basel players
• List of FC Basel seasons

References[]

Sources[]

• Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4
• Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2017/2018. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2189-1
• Die ersten 125 Jahre / 2018. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel. ISBN 978-3-7245-2305-5
• Season 2015–16 at "Basler Fussballarchiv” homepage
• Switzerland 2015–16 at RSSSF

External links[]

• Official website