Fabio Celestini wants to keep the crazy Basel series alive: Celestini leaves his future as FCB coach open for the cup performance

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FC Basel has secured a European starting spot every season for 25 years. And despite the catastrophic first half of the season, international affairs are still within reach in the current epidemic season.

FCB is six points behind sixth place in the table, which entitles them to participate in the Championship group. There are eight rounds left.

The Bebbi still have a chance to qualify for the international competition through the cup. If FCB coach Fabio Celestini (48) has his way, this is actually the easier way. “You just have to win three games and not be dependent on the competition,” says the Lausanne player on Wednesday before the cup quarter-final against FC Lugano.

Celestini leaves his future open

However, it is still completely unclear whether Celestini will even be at the helm of the FCB boat when it enters international waters again next season. His contract expires next summer. FCB boss David Degen said in the fan podcast “Yynedruggt”: “We have been talking for three weeks, but not before there is a conclusion.” According to Degen, Celestini only wants to stay if he can compete for the championship title with the team from Basel in time.

“I am very happy here in Basel,” says Celestini himself, but he does not pay lip service. Exactly this: “David Degen and I always have very good meetings.” His future at the Rhine Knee is not a priority at all at the moment. “It’s still about saving the season,” Celestini explains. “When I came here in October, the situation was absolutely dramatic.”

At the time, Basel were bottom of the Super League table. In the four months since, FCB under Celestini has been able to build a 16-point lead over bottom team Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy. “But we don’t know that for sure yet,” warns the FCB coach. Barrage Square is currently only five meters away. With a defeat against Yverdon and a victory for Lausanne-Sport against Winterthur, the team from Basel could have fallen back to this level last weekend.

Duel between the two cup coaches

But Celestini doesn’t just want to look down. He has not yet written off the jump to the top 6 and the associated battle for a European Cup ticket. “That would be a championship title for me,” says de Vaudois.

Celestini has waited in vain for a real championship title so far in his career. Things look different in the cup: as a player he won the cup twice in a row with Lausanne in 1998 and 1999, and in 2021 he coached Lucerne to victory. Also impressive: Celestini has won all his last nine cup matches as a coach.

However, the FCB coach should not rely on numbers games. Mattia Croci-Torti, the cup specialist par excellence, is on the sidelines for opponent Lugano. He has won no fewer than thirteen of the fourteen matches in the Swiss Cup in his career and, unlike Celestini, also has a contract for next season.

Source : Blick