Hot cup quarter-finals: Wicky’s explosive return and the favorite’s dream

Actually, the roles are clearly divided before this cup quarter-final between Delémont and Servette. Here the eighth-placed team in the third-tier Promotion League, there the championship candidate from Geneva, who lost only three times in the last 26 matches in all three competitions.

However, the Swiss team of the hour has been warned. Because in the Blancherie, the Jurassians have already feared one of the greats of Swiss football twice this season. First they eliminated FC St. Gallen 2-1 in September, then FC Luzern 1-0 in November. And it is no coincidence that Delémont also dreams for the match against Servette. «We are not just going to play a football match in the Blancherie. We are going to experience an event,” said coach Anthony Sirufo on Jura radio RFJ.

In fact, the self-confidence of the club, which played in the then National League A around the turn of the millennium, has increased recently. After eight years in the first division, the long-awaited return to the third tier of the Promotion League was achieved last summer. In the 18-a-side competition, the Jurassians are currently eighth in the league’s midfield. However, during the winter break there were some changes at the promoted club, as many as nine players left the club, also because more training took place in the Promotion League than before.

Now Delémont hopes for the next surprise in the venerable Blancherie against Servette. This will also be special for the city’s mayor, Damien Chappuis. He’s actually an avowed fan of Servette. But now for once he is against his favorite club. “It’s great that the great Servette is coming to Delémont,” he says, promising to wear yellow and black instead of burgundy for once. The mayor also hopes for the next cup miracle from SR Delémont.

They played together many times, over two entire childhoods. But Matteo and Nevio Di Giusto, the brothers from Wettingen, have never been opponents in a serious fight. That could change on Wednesday evening. FC Zurich and FC Winterthur meet there. It’s a Zurich derby. And maybe a Di Giusto derby too.

Matteo, the eldest, is 23 years old and has already made a name for himself in the Super League, once again scoring nine points this season. A creative right-footer, a number ten, he also carries it on his back at FC Winterthur. Nevio, the youngest at just 18 years old, only made his debut for FC Zürich on Sunday. In Lugano he can play one half. He shares his position with his brother, his experience as a young international player and also his status; At 165 centimeters he is three times shorter than Matteo.

He says that he mainly wants to make progress at FC Winterthur, but of course: “It would be cool, a highlight, a dream if we were on the field together.” In their youth, the days of the Di Giusto brothers – there are three in total – were always the same: school, food, football, sleep, says Matteo. In summer the ball is chased in the garden and in winter in a small room in the basement.

Nowadays the youngest plays at FC Zürich, where the middle one was once trained before finding his way to Winterthur via Vaduz. The bond between the brothers is close, they support each other and give each other tips; For example, it is about how to behave on the field when you are always at least a head shorter than your opponents. And of course Matteo tries to protect his little brother from mistakes he himself has made.

When Nevio came on as a substitute in Lugano on Sunday, Matteo was in Lausanne; your own game starts a little later. “When I saw him come in, I was probably more nervous than Nevio himself,” he says. Now the two hope that they will be on the field together on Wednesday evening in the Letzigrund in Zurich. Their thoughts would then be with their mother, who passed away in November. “I speak for both of us when I say that we would dedicate this game to her,” says Matteo di Giusto.

Football Basel is not only concerned with the question of whether FCB, which has already been hit hard this season, can secure a European place through the cup competition. That would be quite a lot considering how the season is going. The other question that remains to be answered is the contract with the coach. Unlike the Young Boys’ egg dance with Raphael Wicky, Basel is not actually concerned about whether Fabio Celestini will be extended, but when it will be announced.

For FCB president David Degen, Celestini is “technically one of the best coaches I know”, and de Romand himself never misses an opportunity to rave about Basel, his employer and the support of the fans. You can expect his signature soon.

The fact that Celestini is also inspired by the spirit of the knockout competition (“I love the Cup”) is of course also due to the fact that he knows cups. As a player, he won the Swiss Cup twice with Lausanne-Sports (1998 and 1999) and reached the final four more times, including with Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Cup and twice with Getafe in the Copa del Rey. As a coach, he led FC Luzern to cup victory in 2021 and because he was fired a few months later, he can look back on a series of nine cup games without defeat.

However, it is doubtful whether this will make an impression on FC Lugano. Because Mattia Croci-Torti, Celestini’s former assistant at Cornaredo, in addition to the personally positive record against his ex-boss (four wins in five matches), has an equally impressive cup resume: led the Ticino team in 14 matches there was only one defeat, that in the final of last season against YB.

The poster is certainly special for Raphael Wicky. He once launched his career in the Tourbillon, on a December day in 1993. He later played 134 games for FC Sion, including three cup finals, all of which Sion of course won.

The resident of Upper Valais experienced the relegation of his youth club last year, this debacle against Stade Lausanne-Ouchy, from afar as coach of the Young Boys. Now he returns to the tourbillon for the cup quarter-finals, and it’s not like he’s doing it in a particularly comfortable position. There has been a question mark about his future in Bern for some time now. The contract expires in the summer and has still not been extended, although Wicky has always delivered what needed to be delivered. But apparently that is no longer enough in the capital.

Lately there have been increasing indications that something is wrong in Bern. YB had no chance against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League and then lost the top match in the Super League to Servette. This defeat, wrote the “Berner Zeitung”, should “really give the Young Boys something to think about”. Captain David von Ballmoos said something remarkable after the match to Servette, saying that some people had a lack of motivation and also: “I don’t think everyone was aware of what was going on today.”

Earlier, in Lisbon, YB players had argued on the pitch over who should take a penalty. Harmony looks different. And now we go to Zion. An opponent waits there in a spirit of optimism.

In the Challenge League, Sion is eight points ahead of FC Thun and has its sights set on direct promotion. The coach’s name is once again Didier Tholot. Just like Wicky, he is a club legend, and like his counterpart, he also won the cup with Sion, twice as a coach. Now he leads a team in which veterans Reto Ziegler, Numa Lavanchy, Kevin Bua and Dejan Sorgic set the tone. And that dominates the competition. That is why Wallis is now hoping for a major coup against YB. (aargauerzeitung.ch)