On Sunday afternoon at 14 o’clock in the Bernese Wankdorfstadion the finale in the Swiss Football Cup 2019 is kicked off. The final will be played by FC Thun and FC Basel. For Basel, the Swiss series champion of recent years, who now had to watch in the second season in a row, as the Young Boys Bern superior to get the title in the Super League, a victory in the final of the Suisse Cup is the only chance, the season still to save. In the league, the “Bebbi” have secured the second place long ago and may thus ran in the coming season in the Champions League qualification.
FC Thun have been the surprise team in the highest Swiss football league this season. But the closer the Bernese Oberlanders approached their first cup final since 1955, the more they lost their Super League performance. In the last 13 league games FCT succeeded only one victory. Thus, the qualification for the Europa League over the league in serious danger. Even the bookmakers trust the team of coach Marc Schneider in the final Thun. FC Basel with high odds not too much. The betting base expects a victory of the favorite in the regular season and thus sets Thun vs. Cup. FC Basel their tip on “win Basel”.
Thun:
After beating Lugano 1-0 last Saturday at home, Thun had great hopes that the negative trend would finally be stopped. But on Wednesday followed with the 0: 3 at FC Zurich the next setback. After a balanced first half hour, the Bernese Oberland had to accept three goals within five minutes. So the game was already decided before the break whistle. The guests also helped diligently with the three goals conceded by blatant defensive errors. Despite the bankruptcy at FCZ, the team of coach Marc Schneider can now no longer descend two laps before the end of the season. The advantage over Xamax on the relegation place is seven points. However, the red-whites can still fall out of the top four. In eighth place the Thuner have only three points distance. The Thuner were since November 10 without interruption in the top four of the Super League.
After the 21st matchday, the Bernese Oberlanders were only two points behind the second place in the table. The lead on the first non-European Cup had been eight points. But the match on Wednesday in Zurich showed that the FCT crisis has not yet been overcome with just one win in the last 13 league games. The Cup is basically a good terrain for the FC Thun Bernese Oberland. The team moved in the last few years regularly in the round of the last eight teams. In his club history, the FC Thun was once in the Swiss Cup final. In the season 1954/55, the Oberländer lost the final against FC La Chaux-de-Fonds. In this year’s Swiss Cup FCT Veyrier, Moutier, Wil, Lugano and Lucerne switched off. Stefan Glarner is missing because of a yellow card in the semi-final match against Lucerne. Dennis Heidiger is still injured.
FC Basel :
Actually, FC Basel wanted to start another attack on the champions Young Boys Bern this season and make the rival contest the title. In the end it was very different. Coach Raphael Wicky, with whom the “Bebbi” had gone into the new season, was released after only two competitive matches. As a successor, the former Austrian team boss Marcel Koller was committed. But even under Koller it was not enough for more than the runner-up. After YB had become in the preseason with a lead of 25 points to the FCB champion, the Red-Blue are back in this season’s three games left the season back 23 points behind the leaders. After a series of 18 competitive games in a row, the team of coach Koller had to compete last Sunday at the old and new champion Bern. With a in the end even lucky 3-1 defeat in Wankdorf Stadium for Basel, the beautiful unbeaten series then came to an end.
In 16 Super League games, there had been eleven victories and five draws. Against YB, Basel was overstretched for long stretches of the game overpowered by pace, duel strength and ideas of the opponent. On Wednesday Basel received then at home the FC Lucerne. In the dress rehearsal for the Cup final, the coach then revved up vigorously again. Only two players from the match against Bern were left. Shortly after the start of the second half, the hosts were already 3-0 ahead, but it was from the 51st minute by a double strike from Lucerne again exciting. In the end, the FCB trembled with the B-Elf to 3: 2 victory. Against FC Thun Basel could now enter the 13th Cup victory in club history. 21 times FCB was already in the final and thus had to go home nine times without a cup. From 2013 to 2015, Basel alone had suffered three final defeats in a row. This season, the Red-Blue reached the final over Montlingen, Echallens, Winterthur, Sion and FC Zurich.
