Basel clinch Swiss title and Champions League spot
Friday, April 28, 2017
Article summary
A run of nine straight wins at the start of the season set Basel on course for a sixth successive Swiss Super League title, and they could yet do it by a record margin.
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How they won it
Basel ended the first weekend of the season in top spot and never looked back, winning their first nine Super League games. By the winter break Urs Fischer's side were 12 points clear, and there was no let-up after the resumption. Unbeaten in all competitions in 2017, Basel have stretched their advantage to 24 points and are on course to break the record 20-point margin of victory they set in 2011/12.
Key number: 90
This term Basel have scored eight league goals on or after the 90-minute mark, including two in one match against Lausanne in November as they turned a potential 1-0 loss into a 2-1 triumph.
The opposition
Sion are on course for their first top-three finish since winning the league two decades ago, but it is Young Boys who have provided Basel's main challenge, albeit from afar. The Berne team inflicted the only domestic defeat of the campaign on the newly crowned champions, league leading scorer Guillaume Hoarau scoring two in a 3-1 success in December.
Make it a double?
For all their Super League dominance, Basel have been unable to get over the line in the Swiss Cup over the past four seasons, finishing runners-up in three of them. Even so, progress has been serene to 25 May's final where their opponents will be a Sion side they've already beaten three times this term.
Room for improvement
So supreme in domestic competition, Basel disappointed in a tough UEFA Champions League group, losing home and away against Paris and Arsenal, and mustering just two points against Ludogorets. For the first time in a decade, Basel's European campaign did not extend beyond Christmas.
Biggest win: 6-0 Vaduz
Biggest loss: 3-1 Young Boys
Top scorer: Seydou Doumbia (14)