This is Nice, Basel’s opponent in the quarterfinals

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A Swiss club against OGC Nice – this duel has never happened before in the European Cup. Nevertheless, the club from the Côte d’Azur has a number of interfaces with Swiss football.

There are Andy Pelmard and Dan Ndoye, who have been under contract with FC Basel since 2021 – and before that in Nice. Central defender Pelmard grew up in the city, joining Nice’s youth division aged 13 and turning professional in 2017. The move to Basel was the 23-year-old’s first step away from home, seeing him back at his regular club is correspondingly emotional. “My whole family will be in the stadium for the second leg. This will be a very special game for me. The whole city breathes football, there is an impressive atmosphere.”

FCB on the paper of the geeks

Unlike Pelmard, Ndoye only came to the Mediterranean in 2020. Immediately after promotion to the Super League with Lausanne-Sport, which, like Nice, is owned by chemical giant Ineos. Because Ndoye did not disclose the status of the substitute in Nice, he followed up on the call from Basel together with Pelmard in 2021. The Swiss national player sees his ex-club again: “Life on the Côte d’Azur is nice, but we don’t go to Nice to swim in the sea, we focus on football.”

On paper, FCB is an outsider in the game against the seventh in Ligue 1. Interim coach Heiko Vogel agrees: “Nice is an attractive opponent, a tough one. We are not favourite. They are in a good mood. We need two perfect days. There are a lot of good teams in the quarter-finals and we drew one.”

If the Nice coach was still called Lucien Favre, the roles would be less clear. Because the Swiss’ second interlude in Nice ended in a fiasco: instead of attacking the Champions League, he fell back to 11th place in the league, plus the embarrassing cup-out against a third division team. In January, Favre was fired – and replaced by his assistant Didier Digard. A stroke of luck: none of the twelve games played so far have been lost under the 36-year-old. Since Digard has been on the sidelines, the Swiss international Jordan Lotomba has also flourished in Nice.

Warm-blooded fans

The sporting revival also ensures satisfaction in the stands. Good for Nice, whose hot-blooded fans have a tough reputation: in derbies against Marseille there are regular ugly scenes between the fan camps – and in the autumn, riots between home and away fans almost caused the conference league group match between Nice and Cologne to be abandoned.

Not only the team, but also the security forces in Basel will be needed. The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on Thursday 13 April in Joggeli, the decision will be made a week later in Nice. The winner of the duel Fiorentina – Lech Poznan awaits the winner in the semifinals.

Source : Blick