- FC Basel beat Slovan Bratislava away in the round of 16 of the Conference League in a penalty shoot-out.
- In the second leg, FCB fell into a 2-0 deficit early on, Zeki Amdouni only saved Basel in added time with a 2-2 lead into extra time.
- Marwin Hitz saves 2 penalties in the penalty shoot-out, all 4 FCB shooters are successful.
Basel’s dance at 3 weddings continues. What hardly anyone thought possible after 45 minutes in the second leg at Slovan Bratislava actually happened. FCB – completely defeated in the first half – made up for a 0:2 deficit after the break, saved themselves in extra time and kept a cool head in the penalty shoot-out in the Slovakian capital.
Darian Males secured progress with his penalty. Andy Diouf, Zeki Amdouni and Riccardo Calafiori had previously converted their attempts, while two Slovaks failed at the strong Marwin Hitz.
Pause speech is fruitful
For a long time, indeed for a very long time, it hadn’t looked as if the people of Basel would be able to start the big cheering procession. But it seems as if Heiko Vogel hit the right notes in the half-time break, because his protégés showed a completely different face after the break.
The reward for the increase was not long in coming. In the 53rd minute, Michael Lang put the ball on for Calafiori from a corner kick, who breathed life back into FCB to make it 2-1.
Amdouni decisive again
What followed was a game on goal. While Slovan was only concerned with maintaining the lead over time, Basel launched one attack after the next. Because Dan Ndoye (64′), Andi Zeqiri (75′) and Amdouni (80′) didn’t put the ball in the goal from promising positions, FCB were threatened with the end after the 2-2 win at St. Jakob-Park a week ago .
But in the third of the four minutes of added play that was displayed, a treacherous bounce by Amdouni found its way into the Slovan goal and saved the Basel team into overtime.
Sleepy start
Basel failed completely to start the game. Slovan Bratislava missed the first big chance (6th), but the Slovaks did better with the second. Malik Abubakari was able to push in from close range in the 11th minute to make it 1-0. Just 6 minutes later, Hitz had to get the ball out of his goal a second time after Juraj Kucka had punished Taulant Xhaka’s unsuccessful attempt to free himself to make it 2-0.
The FCB votes after the game
Quarterfinal draw on Friday
Thanks to the big turnaround after the break, FCB still made it into the round of 8. The Baslers will find out what their opponents will be called on Friday, after which the draw will take place in Nyon.