- Basel win the Conference League playoff second leg against Trabzonspor 2-0 at home.
- FCB thus makes up for the 0-1 mortgage from the first leg in Turkey and qualifies for the round of 16.
- Trabzonspor are disallowed 2 goals for offside and the visitors miss a penalty.
- Basel’s next opponent will be drawn in Nyon on Friday.
The Super League remains represented in the European Cup. FC Basel is once again responsible for this. The nerves of those who support FCB in particular and/or the Swiss representatives in general were badly strained in the playoff second leg against Trabzonspor. But the suffering was worth it.
With the only notable chance to score in the second half, Andi Zeqiri scored the decisive goal in the 76th minute. The centre-forward converted a rebound after Sergio Lopez had previously failed with his curling shot by Trabzonspor goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.
Legend:
Big cheers in St. Jakob-Park
After Andi Zeqiris 2: 0 all dams break.
Reuters/Action Images/Denis Balibouse
Upside down world in the «Joggeli»
While the Baslers cheered the 2:0 frenetically, the guest from Trabzon must have felt like he was in the wrong movie. The Turks dominated the action, especially after the break, and came up with dangerous scenes almost every minute. FCB needed a strong Marwin Hitz and the luck of the capable to make it through to the round of 16:
- 49 minutes: After an unfortunate rebound ball, Hitz gets Maxi Gomez off his feet in the penalty area. The penalty whistle sounds, but referee Mateu Lahoz looks at the whole thing again on the monitor and comes to the conclusion that Hitz touched the ball first – no penalty.
- 61 minutes: Dogucan Haspolat finds the head of Stefano Denswil with a cross into the penalty area, who scores the supposed 1:1. The goal is checked again and denied because of a wafer-thin offside position.
- 67 minutes: Umut Bozok is free to head the ball from close range, but the ball just grazes the outside of the post.
- 91 minutes: This bozok is sent deep and outwits Hitz. But again an offside prevented the Turks from scoring, which was well-deserved due to the game shares.
Important early opening goal
Even before the break, FCB was mostly busy with defensive work. In contrast to Trabzonspor, however, the Basel team were able to seize their chance. In the 13th minute, Michael Lang overplayed the entire opposing defense with a long, high ball into Zeki Amdouni’s run. In the running duel with Dogucan Haspolat, he easily prevailed and caught goalie Cakir with a tight low shot. FCB made up for the mortgage from the first leg early on.
This is how it goes
The round of 16 draw will take place in Nyon on Friday. All 8 group winners in the Conference League are possible next opponents for the Baslers. Among them are Villarreal, West Ham or Nice.