Lots of Tinder for FCB Game of the Year

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The day before the match, FC Basel landed in Nice shortly after 2 p.m. In the bag: hopes of reaching the semi-finals in the Conference League – and lots of Tinder. No matter how it turns out, the Basel team’s journey to the Côte d’Azur will be something to talk about for a long time to come.

Before Xhaka, Hitz and Co. boarding the plane on Wednesday afternoon, FCB reaches a hammer from the authorities. After much shuffling back and forth, the French Ministry of the Interior (!) decided the day before the match that no FCB fans were allowed in the stadium. Those who have obtained a ticket for the guest sector for 30 francs in advance, look into the tube. At that time, there were already a number of Red-Blue supporters in Nice – and the Muttenzer corner made its way to the Mediterranean with more than ten cars.

The FCB responds with a juicy statement. Speaks of an “arbitrary act” and “unacceptable action by the authorities”. Also mentioned is the word “distortion of competition” and that excluding fans from an international match is not worthy.

The mayor of Nice cheers

The mayor’s office in Nice erupts in revelry at the word of authority from the highest authority in Paris. There Christian Estrosi made his wish come true. The reason for the exclusion of fans is national security concerns. Because national strikes were declared in France again on Thursday, no more fan riots could be risked. Other arguments seem absurd: the decision lists incidents involving FCB fans dating back to 2014. At that time, parts of the Muttenzer corner rioted after winning the championship title in Aarauer Brügglifeld.

On the FCB side, they are stunned and extremely disappointed with the “criminalization of all our fans”. A week ago, Basel welcomed 1,500 Nice fans for the first leg and everything remained calm. And so one suspects a vicious tactic by the authorities at Rood-Blauw: Although France has been on strike for months and it could have come up earlier to call the FCB supporters problematic, the exclusion was only announced on the website. day before the second leg of the quarterfinals decided. So that the Nice team could count on the support of its own fans in the away match, but FCB could not.

FCB wants to reverse the decision

But the FCB is not only venting its anger, but is fighting for the decision to be reversed. Lawyers are trying to get an expedited trial on Wednesday. The odds are not described as being as small as one might expect. Because fan bans have already been reversed in the past using expedited procedures. It is possible that the host sector will not remain empty on Thursday. If so, FCB will take legal action against the French authorities.

This episode proves that Rood-Blauw is not far wrong with the accusation of arbitrariness: FC Basel has already received an invoice from Nice for the shuttle, which, according to the original plan, was supposed to take the FCB fans in Nice to the stadium …

By the way: if they finally have to stay outside, the Basel supporters want to follow the match outside Nice. Because according to the current status, they are not even allowed to enter the city.

Nice rails against the Dutch ref

All this moves the focus away from the sporty. For red-blue, it is about making the jump to a European Cup semi-final again ten years after 2013. The 2:2 from the first leg leaves the door open for FCB. According to coach Heiko Vogel, to create the sensation you needed the support of your own fans in Nice. “What has been decided there is highly doubtful to me. And a disadvantage for us. The fact that Nice can count on their fans and we cannot, does not make it any easier for us. I now see it as our duty to go that extra mile for all excluded FCB supporters and perhaps to provide a surprise.”

So Basel go into the second leg with a lot of anger in their stomachs. But they also roll over problems on the side of Nice. Where they are almost ridiculous in comparison to those of the guests: the French media throw themselves at referee Serdar Gözübüyük. More precisely about his nationality: although the name does not suggest it, Gözübüyük is Dutch. And the Netherlands is in a race with France for fifth place in the UEFA coefficient ranking. Whoever occupies it at the end of this season can send four teams to the Champions League next season. If Nice falls out against FCB and one of the two remaining Dutch teams (Alkmaar, Feyenoord) advances to a semi-final of the European Cup, fifth place will go to the Netherlands.

Source : Blick