2007–08 FC Basel season

Overview

At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Basel strengthened their team by signing Swiss internationalists Benjamin Huggel from Eintracht Frankfurt, Marco Streller from VfB Stuttgart and Alf Stewart on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach. Carlitos transferred from Benfica in for an estimated €1.5 million (CHF 1,610,000). Five young talents were brought up from the under-21 team. In the other direction, fans' favourites Ivan Rakitić transferred to Schalke 04 (for an estimated CHF 4,830,000) and Mladen Petrić joined Borussia Dortmund (for an estimated CHF 5,635,000). Influential defender Boris Smiljanić returned to his former club, Grasshoppers.

During the winter break, highly rated Switzerland U-21 defender Beg Ferati arrived at St. Jakob-Park from feeder club Concordia Basel on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He was joined by midfielder Marko Perović from Red Star Belgrade and veteran striker Vratislav Lokvenc, on loan from Red Bull Salzburg. Also during the winter break Felipe Caicedo transferred to Manchester City on a four-and-a-half year deal with a £5.2 million transfer fee (CHF 10 million), which made his sale one of the highest transfers in the history of the Swiss League.

Domestic league

Basel's priority for the season was to win the league championship. The Swiss Super League season began on 22 July. Basel's first game was at home to FC Zürich which was won 1–0. In the fourth and sixth round of the championship, Basel suffered two defeats, against BSC Young Boys and Grasshopper Club, and slid down to the fourth position in the league table. It took them two months before they climbed back to the leading position. Basel stayed at the top of the table until virtually the end of the championship, slipping to second position twice, but they were strong enough to regain the lead. Basel won the Swiss Super League for the first time since 2005 on the 10 May 2008 at St. Jakob-Park after a 2-0 win over their main title threats BSC Young Boys.

The championship decision was made in the last game of the season. Basel needed only a point from the match to win the Championship, however if Young Boys won then they would have become champions. This was exactly the same situation as the end of the 2005–06 season, then the final match was between Basel and Zürich then. The painful memories of losing the league on the last day of the season in 2006 and the resulting 2006 Basel hooligan incident seemed to spur FCB on. Basel took an early lead through Valentin Stocker and a second goal scored by Marco Streller just a few minutes later wrapped up the victory well before half time.

Domestic Cup

Basel's clear aim for the 2007–08 Swiss Cup was to retain the title that they had won the year before. Basel entered the competition in the round of 64 on 19 September 2007 and were paired away against FC Léchelles, whom they beat 9–0 . They then faced SC Binningen away from home on 20 October, winning 6–1. They then faced a much tougher test in the third round, Grasshoppers at the Letzigrund on 25 October, but nonetheless won 1–0. On 15 December, Stade Nyonnais travelled to St. Jakob-Park for the quarter-final; Basel won 2–0, with both goals coming from Eren Derdiyok. The semi-final saw Basel beat FC Thun 1–0 on 27 February. Basel won the Swiss Cup for the second consecutive season after beating second-tier side AC Bellinzona 4–1 at St. Jakob-Park on 6 April. Derdiyok gave Basel the lead in the first half before Bellinzona equalised through Christian Pouga in the second. Daniel Majstorović restored the lead for Basel with a header and Swiss internationals Marco Streller and Benjamin Huggel scored one goal each to make the final scoreline 4–1 in Basel's favour.

Europe

Because Basel entered the 2007–08 UEFA Cup in the second qualifying round, with the goal to reach the group stage. Basel faced a tough opponent in the form of SV Mattersburg of Austria. Basel won the tie off with a 4–0 away win after a 2–1 victory at St. Jakob-Park. In the next round, Basel were drawn against Bosnian minnows FK Sarajevo in the first round, a tie that Basel won 8–1 on aggregate. Basel were then drawn into a group of death, Group D, alongside Brann, Dinamo Zagreb, Hamburger SV and Rennes, all of which were ranked within the top three of their respective leagues at the start of the stage.

Due to the fact that they had reached the group stage their aim was modified and was set as to remain in the competition over the winter break. Basel won their first UEFA Cup group game against Rennes at home 1–0 thanks to a Marco Streller header. Their next game was away to Dinamo Zagreb in which Basel earned a valuable away point thanks to on form goalkeeper Franco Costanzo, who kept the game at 0–0 for 90 minutes. They then faced Brann at St. Jakob-Park, where they won 1–0 through a Carlitos free-kick and were highly praised for playing attractive and flowing football. Basel then went to Germany to face Hamburg at the HSH Nordbank Arena, where they were fortunate to come away with a 1–1 draw. The goals courtesy of the two captains, Basel's Ivan Ergić and Hamburg's Ivica Olić. Basel then faced Sporting CP in the round of 32 after qualifying in second position in the group alongside first-placed Hamburg and third-placed Brann. Sporting CP finished third in their group in the UEFA Champions League, which is why they were dropped into the UEFA Cup. The first leg took place on the 13 February in Lisbon, where first-choice goalkeeper Franco Costanzo suffered an injured and Basel lost 2–0. The second leg did not fare any better for Basel. Costanzo was still injured and Basel lost 3–0 on the 21 February in the home match, resulting in them being knocked out.

This rounded off a highly successful season for Basel as they conquered on the domestic front, winning both the Swiss Super League and Swiss Cup, and reaching the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. Next season they will have the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League.

Other information

Source: Homepage FCB

First team squad

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

Multiple Nationality

Swiss Super League 2007–08

for main article, see Swiss Super League 2007–08

League table

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

2007–08 Swiss Cup

for main article, see 2007–08 Swiss Cup

2007–08 UEFA Cup

For more information, see 2007–08 UEFA Cup

Second qualifying round

For more information, see 2007–08 UEFA Cup qualifying rounds

Basel win 6-1 on aggregate

Group stage

Group D

Final table

Knockout stage

Sporting won 5–0 on aggregate.

Overall

Basel participated in the following major competitions: the Swiss Super League, the Swiss Cup and the UEFA Cup.

Source: Competitions

Total goalscorers

Updated to games played 10 May 2008

Swiss Super League goalscorers/assists

Updated to games played 10 May 2008

Swiss Cup goalscorers

Updated to games played 6 April 2008

European goalscorers

Updated to games played 21 February 2008

Honours and awards