2012–13 FC Basel season


The 2012–13 FC Basel season is the 120th season in club history and the club's 18th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Basel started their season with various warm-up matches against teams from Switzerland, Romania and Germany. Their 2012–13 Swiss Super League season began on 13 July with the away tie against Servette FC and they started in the 2012–13 Swiss Cup first round on 15 September with the away game against FC Amriswil. Basel entered the Champions League in the qualifying phase and were drawn against Estonian club Flora Tallinn. This and the following qualifying round were overstood, however in the play-off round Basel lost both games against CFR Cluj and were knocked out.
Following a poor start to the season it was announced on 15 October 2012 that Vogel had been replaced by Murat Yakin as manager Following the out in the Champions League Basel played in the Europa League group stage and were drawn into Group G along with Sporting Clube de Portugal, K.R.C. Genk and Videoton FC. They finished the Group in second position and advanced to the knockout phase round of 32. Here they were drawn against the Ukrainian Premier League team Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Basel won 3–1 on aggregate. In the round of 16 they were drawn against Zenit St. Petersburg and, despite being the underdogs, Basel advanced by winning 2–1 on aggregate. Thus they qualified for the quarter-finals and were drawn against Tottenham Hotspur, whom they beat 4-1 on penalties after a 4-4 aggregate draw to progress to the semi-finals. The draw for the semi-final matched Basel against the reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea.

Club

Management

First team manager at the start on the season was Heiko Vogel. His assistants were Marco Walker and Markus Hoffmann. Massimo Colomba retired as a player and was appointed as the new Goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni was appointed as the new head of the FCB Youth System. Coach of the Youth Team was Carlos Bernegger and Benjamin Huggel, who also retired as player, was appointed as his new assistant.
On 15 October 2012 it was announced that Vogel had been replaced by Murat Yakin as manager, but that the assistants would all remain in their respective positions. On 7 April 2013 it was announced that Carlos Bernegger was released from his still running contract so that he could sign a contract with FC Luzern as first team manager. Bernegger started his new job on 8 April and was replaced ad-interim by the Youth Section boss Ceccaroni.

Further information

Overview

Offseason and preseason

Basel's biggest signings of the 2012–13 season were Mohamed Salah, who transferred in from Arab Contractors, and Marcelo Díaz, who came from Universidad de Chile. Díaz was transferred to Basel in a US$4 million deal and signed a four-year contract. David Degen also returned to his home club after spending four seasons with BSC Young Boys. Stjepan Vuleta, Simon Grether and Mirko Salvi signed from the youth academy.
Xherdan Shaqiri left the club and signed a four-year contract with Bayern Munich. The transfer fee was not disclosed by the two clubs. Granit Xhaka also left FC Basel and signed a five-year contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach. The transfer fee was not disclosed. It was also announced that Getafe signed David Abraham in a free transfer and gave him a four-year contract.
The two long time and very experienced players Benjamin Huggel and Scott Chipperfield retired from professional football during the summer break. Huggel was appointed as Assistant Youth Team Coach. Chipperfield joined FC Aesch in the sixth tier of the Swiss Football League as Player-coach.

Winter break

Basel started the preparation for the second half of the season on 4 January 2013. They played a friendly on 12 January against Bayern Munich and spent their training camp in Marbella from 14 to 24 January. Here they played four trials, the last being the 2-1 win against the Chinese national team.
On 13 December 2012 FC Basel announced that they had signed Serey Die on a three and a half year contract and on 17 December 2012 they also announced that Endogan Adili had also been signed on a three and a half year contract, with an additional one-year option. On 3 January 2013 it was announced that Raúl Bobadilla had been signed on a contract until 2017. On 29 January 2013 it was announced that Basel had signed Mohamed Elneny on loan until the end of the season.
In the other direction, it was also announced that Radoslav Kováč was given a free transfer to Slovan Liberec. During January it was also announced that some of the youngsters would be loaned out to lower league clubs, Pak Kwang-Ryong Simon Grether and Pascal Schürpf to Bellinzona, Stjepan Vuleta to Wil and Marco Aratore to Winterthur so that they could all gain playing experience.

The Campaign

Domestic League

Basel's priority aim for the season is to win the league championship for the fourth time in a row. Basel's 2012–13 Swiss Super League season began on 13 July 2012 with the away tie against Servette FC. The season started poorly, Basel won just three of their first nine games, drawing five with one defeat. They were in fourth position in the league table, eight points behind the leaders Grasshoppers, this even increased to eleven points just three weeks later. However, following the Management change in October, the team spirits improved and they played better. They ended the first half of the season in second position, had reduced the arrears to four points and had moved one point ahead of Sion and St. Gallen.
In the second half of the season FC Sion lost their momentum completely and St. Gallen also lost contact to the first two positions in the league table. The Grasshoppers and Basel distanced themselves continually, but remained within a few points of each other. Basel took over the lead in the championship table and, mid-way through the second half of the season, started to open a gap to their last remaining rivals. Despite Grasshoppers winning the direct league fixture against Basel three games before the end of the season, Basel had acquired enough points to finish three points ahead of them and to win their fourth title in a row. Basel thus achieved their main aim that they had set for the season, in fact the league campaign can be described as being a successful one.

Domestic Cup

Basel's clear aim for the Swiss Cup is to retain the title. The Cup holders started in the 2012–13 Swiss Cup first round on 15 September with the away game against FC Amriswil, a team from the OFV Regional 2. Liga and this tie was won 6–1. In the second round they were drawn away against FC Chiasso, this tie was won 4–1. For the third round tie Basel were drawn, again away from home, against Locarno and passed into the next round with a 3–2 victory, but needed for the winning goal.
The Quarterfinals were played on 27 February 2013 and Basel were drawn away from home against FC Thun in a tie that was won 2–1, yet again this victory need extra time. Drawn away in the semifinal against Sion on 17 April 2013 Basel advanced to the final thanks to the only goal of the game scored by Valentin Stocker. The final was played on Whit Monday in the Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf in Bern. The opponents were the Grasshoppers. Basel lost the Final 3-4 on penalties, the game had ended 1-1 after extra time. Basel missed their aimed cup win, but the cup campaign can be described as being a successful one.

Champions League

Because Basel entered the Champions League in the qualifying phase their initial aim is to reach the group stage. They were drawn against Estonian club Flora Tallinn winning 5–0 on aggregate and in the third round they were drawn against Norwegian club Molde FK winning 2–1 on aggregate. However, in the play-off round Basel lost both games against CFR Cluj from Rumainia. Therefore, the initial aim was failed.

Europa League

Because the losing teams from the Champions League play-off round were eligible for the group stage of the Europa League, Basels next aim was to remain in this European competition over the winter break. Basel were drawn into Group G along with Sporting Clube de Portugal, K.R.C. Genk and Videoton FC. As they finished the Group in second position they advanced to the knockout phase round of 32. Therefore, their second aim was achieved. In the round of 32 Basel were drawn against the Ukrainian Premier League team Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Basel progressed 3–1 on aggregate, winning the home tie and drawing away. Their aims were subsequently revised again and this aim was stated as reaching the quarter-finals.
In the round of 16 they were drawn against Zenit St. Petersburg and despite being the underdogs, by winning 2–1 on aggregate, they qualified for the next round. Basel were drawn against Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-final. Spurs were beaten 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out after a 4-4 aggregate draw to progress to the semi-finals. The draw for the semi-final matched the against reigning UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea. Both games in the tie ended with a defeat, 1-2 in Basel 1-3 in London. Despite these two defeats Basel's European aims were achieved, in fact the campaign can be described as a very successful one.

Players

First team squad

Out on loan

Transfers Summer 2012

In

Out

Transfers Winter 2012-13

In

Out

Results and fixtures

Legend

Friendly matches

Preseason

Winter break

Swiss Super League

Kickoff times are in CET

First half of season

Second half of season

League table

Results summary

Swiss Cup

UEFA Champions League

Qualifying rounds

Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round

Playoff round

UEFA Europa League

Group stage

Knockout phase

Round of 32

Basel won 3–1 on aggregate.

Round of 16

Basel won 2–1 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

4–4 on aggregate. Basel won 4–1 on penalties.

Semi-finals

Chelsea won 5–2 on aggregate.

Statistics

All the information to the squad statistics during the season, including matches played and goals scored.

Squad information

Season Statistics

Appearances and goals

! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Goalkeepers
! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Defenders
! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Midfielders
! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center"| Forwards

Bookings