The troubled champion FCZ fails in the Swiss Cup at the Challenge League club Lausanne. For his coach Ludovic Magnin, the spectacular 3-2 victory after extra time is also a satisfaction – for Zurich coach Franco Foda, however, the situation is becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
Cheers after winning the cup against his former employer FC Zurich: the Lausanne coach Ludovic Magnin.
Maybe the ball will actually roll for FC Zurich that day. He was leading 2-1 early on Sunday evening in the semi-finals of the Cup at Challenge League top club Lausanne when injury time began. He also leads 2:1 after four of five minutes of overtime, the supposed equalizer by Gianluca Gaudino in the 93rd minute is denied because a team-mate was narrowly offside.
2: 2 but it is shortly thereafter, because a few minutes earlier substitute Aldin Turkes scored with a header in the last action of regular time. Goalgetter Turkes, who was once also trained in the youth team at FCZ, was out for more than 600 days due to a cruciate ligament rupture a few weeks ago.
So extension. Extension of course. Anything but a bit of drama and plenty of emotion would not have been appropriate at this meeting of two clubs that play a crucial role in the life of drama and emotion man Ludovic Magnin.
Ludovic Magnin was employed by FC Zurich for over ten years. First as a player, later as a youth coach, as an assistant in the first team, from the beginning of 2018 as head coach in the Super League. His relationship with the club owners Heliane and Ancillo Canepa was considered particularly intimate, the couple liked to refer to Magnin as a “foster son”. Magnin’s track record in the league was modest, but he soon said he was a coach for the big games. Under Magnin, FCZ won the 2018 cup final against the favorite YB, and he won the Europa League against Bayer Leverkusen.
Before the game, both coaches were still in good spirits: Ludovic Magnin (left) welcomes Franco Foda.
Canepa’s loyalty to Magnin was defiant, just as one always defends a son. Before Magnin there were other coaches that FCZ had stuck with for too long, for example Finn Sami Hyypiä – and this scenario may well be repeated this season with Franco Foda. “As a club, we also represent values and do not dismiss people at the first opportunity,” said Ancillo Canepa a few weeks ago.
Ironically, after a 4-0 defeat in Lausanne, Magnin was released from FC Zurich almost exactly two years ago. The current FCZ champion Nikola Boranijasevic and Aldin Turkes were among the goal scorers. With his last-minute goal on Sunday, he ensured that Franco Foda, Magnin’s successor, had to experience extra time because his team conceded another late header. Like last time in the league with the defeats against Lugano and Servette.
The post-game interview with Aldin Turkes.
Magnin believes he is often misunderstood in Switzerland
Ludovic Magnin was quiet after his dismissal at FC Zurich. A few of his plans to train with important coaches in Europe fell through because of Corona – and because his reputation in Switzerland had suffered, other coaches were preferred to him several times. Magnin had often given the image of a little boy on the sidelines whose sweets had been taken away. He could be a screamer, he messed with the referees, he couldn’t control his emotions. The NZZ once wrote that Magnin was the angry citizen of Swiss football.
Not only did Magnin not forgive this article, he has not spoken to the NZZ since then. In the run-up to the Cup sixteenth final between Lausanne and FC Zurich, but with other media. Magnin once again portrayed himself as being often misunderstood in Switzerland. That’s one of the reasons why he went to Altach in Austria at the beginning of this year. Magnin spectacularly saved the team from relegation from the top division in the second half of the season – and moved back to Switzerland in the summer thanks to an opt-out clause.
The sentimentalist Ludovic Magnin could not escape his first and previously unfulfilled love of Lausanne sport. Once, as a junior, after just one season at the club, he was judged not to be good enough. Through Yverdon and also thanks to his mentor Lucien Favre, he later had a wonderful career as a footballer with 62 international matches and the championship titles in Germany with outsiders Bremen and Stuttgart.
Ludovic Magnin was always a kind of outlaw himself, not only as a rabble-rouser on the sidelines. You can also draw strength from this role. Like now in Lausanne. Like on Sunday against the champions FC Zurich.
When Magnin was still talking to the NZZ, he once said: “I want my team to act tactically perfectly.” Both teams are far from it in the beautiful Stade de la Tuilière on Sunday, but that was not to be expected. It is a restless game with many fouls in front of around 5000 spectators. But it can be seen that Magnin is interested in developing a strong team with fine technicians like Gaudino.
In the end, Magnin’s team was better in extra time, but needed a poorly kicked free kick from Zurich’s Ole Selnaes to be able to play a remarkable counterattack in the 114th minute, which Turkes again refined to make it 3-2. “It’s a nice win for us,” says Magnin. Lausanne now meets YB in the round of 16. It’s going to be another big game.
Seems more and more helpless: the FCZ coach Franco Foda.
Canepa continues to strengthen Foda’s back
Magnin can decide a lot in Lausanne, there is no sports director. From the partner club Nice, coached by Magnin’s “foster father” Lucien Favre since this season, there are not as many loan players in the Lausanne squad as there have been in recent years. The goal is clearly defined: promotion to the Super League, which will include 12 teams from next season.
Whether Magnin would then meet Franco Foda is uncertain. When Zurich’s bitter departure is sealed, Foda looks at his watch as if he sees there whether his time in Zurich is up. Then he runs into the cabin, lonely and dejected. In his analysis he later says that his team behaved very naively before the 2:2 and 2:3. He’s not worried about his job, it’s just a shame how many victories the FCZ is currently giving away.
The president Ancillo Canepa continues to strengthen his coach after the defeat in the cup. However, after the miserable start to the season and the sixth defeat in a row, a dismissal would no longer take place at the first opportunity. Despite all the pledges of loyalty, Franco Foda could have seen his last game as FCZ coach on Sunday. In Lausanne. Like Ludovic Magnin once did.
Lausanne-Sport – Zurich 3: 2 (2: 2, 1: 2) a.e.t. 5050 spectators. – Referee: beer – Gates: 9. Husic (own goal) 0:1. 24. Labeau 1:1. 36. Marchesano 1:2. 95. Turkes 2:2. 114. Turkes 3:2. – FC Zurich: crusher; Boranijasevic, Omeragic (23rd Kamberi), Kryeziu, Aliti; Dzemaili (64th Conde), Selnaes; Avdijaj (64th Okita), Marchesano, Guerrero; Santini (85. Vyunnyk). – Remarks: 117. Yellow-red card against Okita.
Swiss Cup. Round of 16. Friday: Neuchâtel Xamax – Thun 1:2 (1:1). – Saturday: Meyrin (1st) – Winterthur 0: 4 (0: 1). Bellinzona – Lucerne 0: 1 (0: 0, 0: 0) a.e.t. Köniz (1st) – Wohlen (1st) 1: 2 (0: 1). Rotkreuz (1st) – Kriens (PL) 2: 1 (1: 1, 0: 1) a.e.t. Goldstern (3rd) – Grasshoppers 0: 3 (0: 0). Etoile Carouge (PL) – St. Gallen 2: 4 (2: 1). Rapperswil-Jona (PL) – Sion 0:2 (0:1). La Chaux-de-Fonds (1st) – Servette 0-2 (0-0). Arbedo-Castione (2nd) – Sarmenstorf (2nd) 6: 0 (3: 0). Lausanne Ouchy Stadium – Young Boys 0-1 (0-0) – Sunday: Schaffhausen – Yverdon 4: 1 (3: 1). Breitenrain (PL) – Lugano 0: 4 (0: 0). Aarau – Basel 1:3 (1:1, 1:1) aet Lausanne-Sport – Zurich 3:2 aet (1:2). Portalban/Gletterens (1st) – Wil 0:2 (0:0).
Round of 16 draw: Grasshoppers – Basel. Lugano-Winterthur. Lausanne Sport – Young Boys. Thun – Lucerne. Wil – manners. Wohlen (1.) – Servette. Arbedo-Castione (2nd) – FC St. Gallen. Rotkreuz (1.) – FC Schaffhausen.