Troublesome Basel sets sights on Real Madrid
Fresh from the 3-3 draw against Liverpool which pushed the English side out of the Champions League, Swiss side FC Basel were on Wednesday itching for more giant-killing feats in the next round.
Fresh from the 3-3 draw against Liverpool which pushed the English side out of the Champions League, Swiss side FC Basel were on Wednesday itching for more giant-killing feats in the next round.
Coach Christian Gross did little to hide his ambitions just after the match on Tuesday, lining up Real Madrid in his sights.
"If we play against Ronaldo it wouldn't be too bad," Gross told journalists.
Gross admitted he did not expect his team's performance over the past few months, their first particpation in the Champion's League.
"I was really thinking we would be outsiders. This proves everything is possible," the Swiss coach said.
Basel's Argentinian attacking duo of Julio Hernan Rossi and Christian Gimenez ripped through Liverpool's weakened defence, served by an inspired midfield led by Swiss international Hakan Yakin which also picked up possession from the Merseysiders with ease for the first 45 minutes.
But pressure from Liverpool's revamped midfield and front line in the second half exposed Basel's defensive flaws to allow the English side to draw level, and some of the Swiss side's players tired swiftly.
Basel can count on the largest and most enthusiastic crowd following of any football team in Switzerland.
Several thousand supporters turned out in the city centre overnight, capping the side's historic performance as the first Swiss team to advance into the next stage of the Champions League with a celebration that ran deep into the night.
Liverpool's legendary following, reduced to about 1,400 fans in one corner of the St Jakob stadium, were easily drowned out by more than 28,000 vociferous Basel fans during the match.
It was also a sweet revenge for the Basel trainer on two counts.
Gross was pilloried by British newspapers during a season at London club Tottenham Hotspur four years ago.
Two years beforehand, he also failed to bring his then side Grasshopper Zurich through the next stage of the Champions League when they lost to the Ajax 0-1 at home, although like Basel the team only needed one point to go through.
"I guess it has been difficult to accept that we in Switzerland can play football at quite a good level and that we don't only have snow, cows, chocolates and maybe some banks," Gross said.
The draw for the next group stage of the Champions League will take place in Geneva on Friday.