Is YB doing it like GC 1992?: These were the biggest Swiss comebacks in Europe

But giving up is still not an option! It wouldn’t be the first time that Sporting Lisbon were ultimately eliminated after a first-leg win in Switzerland – this happened on September 30, 1992 in the first round of the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League).

Zubi holds on for the win

Record champion GC was languishing in the middle of the table in the National League A under star coach Leo Beenhakker (81) and had lost the first leg in the Hardturm 1-2. Nothing indicated that the Portuguese top team around Krassimir Balakov (57) and the then 19-year-old Luís Figo (51) would be eliminated.

Yet the record champions managed to create a sensation. The Hoppers performed at the Estadio with young people Pascal Zuberbühler (21, now 53), Ciriaco Sforza (22, 53), Murat Yakin (18, 49), Alain Sutter (24, 56) and Giovane Elber (20, 51). ). ).Jose Alvalade.

Elber put the outsiders ahead in the first half before the score was 2-0 in the 84th minute. As the home team managed to score the next goal, the match went into extra time. Elber scored a brace and made the final score 3-1. In addition to the Brazilian striker, goalkeeper Zuberbühler also became the match winner – shortly before the end he saved a penalty and thus secured the legendary comeback.

The Swiss are catching up in international business

Swiss clubs continued internationally despite losing the first leg a total of 42 times – including only three away. Current Super League and Challenge League clubs, including Vaduz, were taken into account. The Berners managed to turn things around five times.

In just nine meetings, a two-goal deficit was reversed in the second leg. But YB has achieved this feat twice not too long ago. Football nostalgics, take note! The comebacks summarized:

After the 1:3 in Geneva, Servette forced a play-off in the first round of the National Champions Cup (now the Champions League) with a 3:1 away win. This was lost in extra time.

In the Cup Winners’ Cup, Servette lost 2-0 in Greece. In the second leg of the first round they secured progression with a 4-0 win.

Probably the biggest turning point in the history of Swiss club football: on November 1, 1978, GC played the second leg of the second leg of the national championship cup in the Hardturm. After the 1:3 in Madrid they won 2:0 thanks to a brace from Claudio Sulser (68). In the quarter-finals the Hoppers failed against Nottingham Forrest.

Twelve years before the sensation against Sporting, the Grasshoppers achieved a spectacular success against a Portuguese team. After the 0:2 in the first leg in Porto, they won 3:0 after extra time in the Hardturm and advanced to the third round of the UEFA Cup.

In the first round of the Cup Winners’ Cup, GC was the only Swiss team so far to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first leg: 4-0 after extra time after a 3-0 defeat in Bratislava.

Second round of the UEFA Cup: The Hoppers lost in the first leg in the Hardturm 2-0 to the star ensemble around Rui Costa, Gabriel Batistuta and Francesco Toldo in the Hardturm. However, because during the second leg, which was played in Salerno, a petard exploded near classification players and some subsequently complained of hearing and balance problems, the match was scored 3–0 in favor of the Hoppers.

After a 3-1 defeat in Scotland, the Bebbi reached the group stage of the Champions League – for the first time in the club’s history. They won 2-0 in St. Jakob-Park. The second goalscorer at the time was Murat Yakin.

The first leg in Lviv ended 0-2. In the second leg they won 2-0 on penalties after 120 minutes. Yuya Kubo (30) scored twice. This meant that the Bernese advanced to the CL play-offs, where they failed against Mönchengladbach.

Just a year later, YB suffered another first leg defeat (1:3) against a team from Ukraine in the third qualifying round for the Champions League. In the 90th minute of the second leg, Jordan Lotomba (25) scored to make it 2-0. They then found themselves stuck in the play-offs again – this time against CSKA Moscow.