Honorable defeat for FC Zurich

Added time is running at the Emirates Stadium, FC Zurich is pushing for an equaliser, outside on the sidelines Bo Henriksen is almost in despair. Again and again the FCZ trainer tears his hair, sinks to the ground and shakes his head.

But his team can no longer make it 1-1, and even the last free kick doesn’t bring anything. And so FC Zurich may say goodbye to the Europa League late Thursday evening with a defeat – but at least with a message of honor and a courageous performance by the leader of the English Premier League.

Swiss clubs have a dubious tradition of honorable defeats against top international teams. And basically, the departure of FCZ is part of an overall unsatisfactory European Cup campaign by the champions, even if the club representatives emphasize that they have achieved the European goal for the season by qualifying for the Europa League.

The champions missed an excellent opportunity right at the start of the season in July, possibly even finding a way into the Champions League. The failure against modest Azerbaijani club Karabakh in premier qualifiers was a disappointment and a harbinger of the huge troubles under coach Franco Foda. “We then qualified confidently for the Europa League with four wins against Linfield and Heart of Midlothian,” says sports director Marinko Jurendic, “and were able to improve in the group phase after a difficult start.”

The FCZ didn’t just park the bus in London

With one win, five defeats and a sobering goal difference of 5:16, FC Zurich is last in the strong group with Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven and Bodø/Glimt. In particular against Eindhoven (1:5 at home, 0:5 away) the FCZ left an unsatisfactory impression. Thanks to the 2-1 win against Bodø/Glimt a week ago, he could still hope for the winter in the European Cup and a continuation in the Conference League next year. “We are disappointed, but also proud of the performance against Arsenal,” said sports director Jurendic on Thursday evening in London.

Captain Yanick Brecher also sees the performance in the sold-out Emirates Stadium as a positive step. “We didn’t hide, we were brave, we fought to the end,” he says. For some FCZ players, a childhood dream came true with the appearance in this great stadium. “It’s a good sign that we not only managed to park the bus in our own penalty area, but also to set accents on the offensive,” says Brecher.

Measured against the sometimes disastrous performances this season for weeks, the 0-1 draw against Arsenal can be seen as proof that FC Zurich has stabilized under coach Bo Henriksen. However, it is also true that the goalkeeper Brecher prevented a higher deficit with several strong saves – and that Arsenal did without numerous regulars because the derby at Chelsea is already due on Sunday afternoon. Granit Xhaka, in-form captain of the Swiss national team, was also suspended for Arsenal.

The character test in Lugano follows on Sunday

For FC Zurich it is now about continuing the upward trend in the Super League. Last Sunday he finally managed his first win in the 14th game of the season, beating 1-0 in Sitten. However, he is still six points behind second-last FC Winterthur – and urgently needs to improve his situation in the two remaining matches before the World Cup, on Sunday in Lugano and a week later against Servette.

Under Bo Henriksen, FCZ are much more passionate than before, apart from the 1:4 in the derby against GC. Director Antonio Marchesano is more enthusiastic about the game again, he missed his team’s best chance against Arsenal. And while striker Jonathan Okita makes an astonishing number of strange decisions, he is quite dangerous in goal and, above all, very fast. He is also unpredictable for the opponents.

And in the first few weeks under Bo Henriksen you got an idea of ​​what the coach means when he says the players have to want to die for each other. The coach exemplifies an energy that is transferred to the team. The Croatian defender Nikola Katic is a symbol of this, since a violent collision a few weeks ago in the 0-0 draw against FCB he has been wearing head protection. As in Basel, Katic had to change his jersey against Arsenal on Thursday because he was bleeding profusely after a duel.

However, a complicated balancing act awaits FCZ – from the glittering soccer temple Emirates Stadium with 60,000 spectators, including around 3,000 people from Zurich who have traveled with them, to the low-spirited Cornaredo in Lugano, where maybe 4,000 visitors will be in the stadium on Sunday.