On par with Faroese clubs: Switzerland’s qualifying record in the European Cup is catastrophic

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14 matches, only three wins. When you hear these bare numbers you would think this is the record for a table bottom in a championship. But it is the result of our five clubs, who started to conquer Europe. She’s disastrous!

Of course there is the big highlight with YB’s qualification for the premier class. There are plenty of bonus points for that. And they keep us alive! Also nice was Servette’s qualification for the Europa League in a heroic fight against the strong Belgians from Genk. The games against Glasgow Rangers were also okay. But Servette didn’t win any of his four games, so Geneva hardly scored any points. The success of FC Luzern at Djurgarden is also good. But that was the only real success. And the game against the humble Hibs from Scotland was only one thing: embarrassing.

Lugano weak, Basel embarrassing

And then there are the two weakest teams: Lugano lost both qualifying matches against Sint-Gillis. The bottom line is that the coefficient is zero points! The Ticino after all, are allowed to play in the Conference League and can take countermeasures. And last but not least, FC Basel actually managed to be eliminated as semi-finalists of the Conference League against Nobody by Tobol Kostanay. It was arguably the greatest club-level Helvetic embarrassment of all time. The Kazakhs later missed the Conference League with a blow against Viktoria Pilsen.

On par with the Faroe Islands

And so we end up in 29th place, level with the Faroe Islands. Behind Luxembourg (!), Kosovo or Armenia. Of course this is just a snapshot. Still, it’s pure madness.

Now what are the implications? We are 12th in the five-year ranking (mainly thanks to the last FCB season), which is good and one spot higher than last year. But the impact on Serbia, Denmark, Norway, Israel, Ukraine and the Czech Republic is minimal. A drop to 18th place cannot be ruled out. So to the region where we were four years ago. It would be a huge step backwards.

difficult groups

So for YB, Servette and Lugano it means: points, points, points. But a look at the groups does not bode well. YB should not throw a shot against ManCity, against Leipzig it will be extremely difficult and against Red Star Belgrade you need at least four points to overwinter in Europe and be able to go on a points hunt in 2024. And to keep at bay the Serbs lurking just behind us in the five-year ranking.

Servette has an Italian top club in the group with AS Roma, then the strong Slavia Prague – and sheriff Tiraspol. Lugano has to deal with the CL experienced Brugge and Besiktas Istanbul as well as with Bodö/Glimt. Speaking of the Turks: in two years they shot up with supersonic speed in the UEFA ranking from 20 to 9 (!) But what is a huge annoyance in the case of Lugano: the ‘home games’ in foreign stadiums. Against Saint-Gilloise they lost in 1171 in the Stade de Geneve. The group stage will be played in Zurich. Similar scenes can probably be expected as in 2019 in the St. Gallen Kybunpark, when Lugano played in front of 1200 to 1800 spectators and was eliminated without a win.

But: we can pack the Ösis!

Everything sounds very gloomy, is there a positive approach? Clearly!

We only need a few more points to overtake Austria, which would be a very nice European Cup success. And Scotland and Turkey are also within easy reach. So it can go down to 18, but also to nine.

Source : Blick