Matchday 1: FC Basel - Spartak Moscow; Official Thread

JamGraffiti · September 19th, 2002, 01:30

ell obviously this topic would have happened a lot earlier (like before the game

) if the server had not crashed for those few days leading up to the game

Anyway as we know Basel just go from strength to strength and won 2-0

in their first ever CL game with goals fom Hakan "i like to wear a samurai style headband" Yakin

and Julio Rossi

I saw the goals and highlights on uefa.com and Basel looked completely in control and looked to be playing very nice football

(although you can't tell much from highlights). I can't say i was that surprised that Basel won as Spartak have not exactly set the world on fire in the Russian league this season and probably won't win the league. However there was alwasy the chance that FCB might have got pre-match nerves or stagefright as the first game in the CL is always a big one, even if the opponent was not Liverpool or Valencia. However after the results against Celtic (which don't look as impressive after Scotland's draw with the Faroes

and Rangers' 2=0 loss to Zizkov (Cze) ) i did expect a draw at the very miminum as FCB were at home

Anyway, on another note i checked into the FCB forum for a look and apparently Basel might get a stadium ban from UEFA for letting flares off and crowd trouble involving pelting objects at the referee

. Obviously i cannot confirm this but you guys probably can. I think a stadium ban is a bit extreme if this events occured and similar things have happened at other stadiums in the past and only fines have been imposed. However if this is true then it is of course very disappointing

and overshadows Basel's achievements on the pitch and i hope the authorities do something and burn the offenders at the stake or something

because it is not the first time things like this have happened and these idiots are giving FC Basel a bad reputation as a crowd that misbehaves, something that is obviously not true for the majortiy

Viola · September 19th, 2002, 11:11

Good win, because Spartak is always HARD to beat, especially at this time of the year, when they reach the final stage of the Russian league.

tigerTUFF · September 19th, 2002, 13:01

gr8 result

really happy to see a 'minnow' CL team get off on the right foot, the confidence must be sky high, good luck with the rest of the games

Jonny · September 19th, 2002, 16:57

Great win boys, keep it up

I'm still kinda chuckling at Celtic fans, although I must stop if we don't overturn Zizkov in the 2nd leg

Good luck with the rest of the campaign

Athelas · September 20th, 2002, 11:23

It was indeed a very pleasant evening! I was surprised about how one sided the match was. I was expecting a much stronger Spartak Moskow, but maybe Basel just didn't allow them to play better. It's quite unbelievable what's happening in Basel at the moment, I don't think it's exaggerated to say that this FCB is the strongest club team in Switzerland ever, and of course I hope that they can keep this level for the next few years...

I don't want to write too much about the match, you can read an excellent report on UEFA.com. I just have to add that a 4:0 or even a 5:0 would have been more accurate after the numerous opportunities Basel had missed especially in the first half. Moskow was more than harmeless, they didn't have a single dangerous opportunity in the whole match! I'm really looking forward to the match in Liverpool next week. Of course it will much more difficult, but in the current form even a surprise at Anfield seems to be possible (and I even count a draw as a surprise...). Liverpool wasnt very impressive against Valencia, but of course they will be much stronger in their home ground. I'm pretty confident now that we will finish at least 3rd in this group, and there is still hope for a surprise...

One final note about that unlucky smoke incident: It wasnt that bad as it might seem after reading all this stuff in the press. Some stupid kid (I guess) had the glorious idea to light a smoke bomb (don't know if thats the right translation...

) right at the start of the 2nd half. Because of the narrow architecture of the St. Jakob Park the smoke couldnt leave the stadium and remained around the Spartak goal for about 2 minutes. The referee had to interrupt the match until the sight cleared up again. I dont think that would be reason enough for a stadium ban. Although you never know what the UEFA has in mind this would be a really ridicoulus punishment for a bit of harmeless smoke. It's still very stupid by a so called "fan" to harm the reputation of the club right in their first Champions League match, not to speak of the money it will cost.

About throwing objects at the referee: I dont think that was too bad either, maybe a few plastic cups were thrown when he left the field at half time, but that happens almost everytime I think (and not only in Basel...). Of course it's stupid, but emotions are part of football and stuff like that can happen. As long as it's only plastic cups I dont really see a reason to dramatize...

MxPx · September 20th, 2002, 20:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Athelas
About throwing objects at the referee: I dont think that was too bad either, maybe a few plastic cups were thrown when he left the field at half time, but that happens almost everytime I think (and not only in Basel...). Of course it's stupid, but emotions are part of football and stuff like that can happen. As long as it's only plastic cups I dont really see a reason to dramatize...

I agree.
Same with the smoke incident (funny story by the way

).
Flares and yelling (and sometimes throwing objects

) at the ref is a part of football and fan culture.

Good luck against Boringpool, schießt sie aus ihrem eigenen Stadion!

Vlado · September 20th, 2002, 23:39

about the smoke: it was a little unlucky that the wind blew the smoke on the pitch, but apart from that a not too bad...a little bit too much maybe.....

about the cup throwing: what's the fuss about ????? it's stupid to put the stadium entrance at the home stand.......could have happened in every stadium.....

JamGraffiti · September 21st, 2002, 15:03

Thanks for clarifying these issues guys

I didn't think that the smoke & throwing objects incidents were as big as one or two reports suggested and i've actually seen nothing mentioned about this @uefa.com or any other english language publications except for a Reuters article someone posted on fcbforum.com

I totally agree with you about the current FCB being the strongest Swiss team ever Athelas, despite my limited knowledge and experience with Swiss football. Even though GCZ qualified twice for the CL in the mid 1990s (under Gross i think? ) they didn't do so well and their record looks quite poor, and the CL was also an easier competition back then with less matches and a maximum of two teams from a nation (only the big nations got 2 spots) being able to qualify.
Having said that, i don't think FCB should get two carried away as there are still at least 5 games left and i stand by my statement that Spartak are much weaker than in previous seasons (especially with Titov injured as he the guy that revived Spartak's league fortunes after a dreadful early part of the season when they were losing regularly, home and away)

I agree also that uefa.com has done excellent coverage of FC Basel so far and i guess a full match report was not necessary. They also have a good piece in the "training ground" section regarding the tactical analysis of the game and have done in-depth coverage on Hakin Yakin which includes footage of him in action and also footage of his wonderful bicycle/overhead kick as part of their "trick of the week"

. I gather that most of you have probably seen this already though

Anyway i hope FCB go to Liverpool with the same attacking mentality they went to Celtic with because i think Liverpool are kinda fragile at the moment and their cautious style may play right into the hands of Basel :hopefull:

p.s when will Chipperfield be back from injury?, and i was glad to see Milicevic get a spot on the bench if only so he could get a taste of the atmosphere of a UCL game

Redblue Power · September 21st, 2002, 15:29

Nice coverage guys! I was in St. Gallen (exams) all week and only came to Basel to watch the game, so I couldn't write something about the match so far but you mentioned all relevant points, I guess.

So I'm glad to be "offical Chipperfield news poster"

There was an article in the local newspaper this week concerning his recovery. The target game is Liverpool @home ( 12th November). He's doing very good because his effort and will to come back as soon as possible are way over average and so he'll be back sooner than expected, although they made a second operation concerning some muscles (nothing really bad, it's a normal thing to correct those thing when someone's got an other injury).

Unfortunately I can't go to Anfield Road (last exam Thursday...) but I'm sure our supporters are going to impress Europe and especially those "we're so great and you're crap"-Reds (at least concerning those guys on there board). I hope we have a little bit lucky (is it correct like thos Lodda?) and then 1-3 points aren't out of reach. 3rd place should be possible, Spartak was really a very poor side. With Valencia going to win the group it's Reds vs. Red-Blue competing for the next stage.

Get well soon Scotty