Nice vs Basel Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, predicted line-ups
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Article summary
When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg between Nice and Basel.
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Nice and Basel meet in their UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg on Thursday 20 April.
Nice vs Basel at a glance
When: Thursday 20 April (21:00 CET kick-off)
Where: Grand Stade de Nice, Nice
What: UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg (first leg 2-2)
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage can be found here
Winners face Lech or Fiorentina in the semi-finals, playing the away leg first
Where to watch Nice vs Basel
Fans can find their local UEFA Europa Conference League broadcast partner(s) here.
What do you need to know?
This tie could still go either way after both teams held the lead in an end-to-end first leg. Basel were the more frustrated of the two following that 2-2 home draw in which they were on top for long periods, but two Terem Moffi goals – including a brilliant overhead kick – have kept Nice in contention.
Basel are unbeaten in their last three Europa Conference League outings and Nice in their last five, but something will have to give on Thursday.
Predicted line-ups
Nice: Schmeichel; Mendy, Ndayishimiye, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Ramsey, Boudaoui, Thuram; Moffi, Laborde
Misses next match if booked: Boudaoui
Suspended: None
Basel: Hitz; Lang, Nuhu, Pelmard; Ndoye, Diouf, Xhaka, Burger, Kade; Amdouni, Zeqiri
Misses next match if booked: Calafiori, Comas, Fink, Xhaka, Zeqiri
Suspended: López
Form guide
Nice
Form (all competitions, most recent first): LDLDDW
Where they stand: 9th in French Ligue 1
Basel
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DDDLWL
Where they stand: 6th in Swiss Super League
Expert prediction
Andrew Scott, match reporter
The tie is finely poised after last week's entertaining 2-2 draw in Switzerland, a game lit up by Moffi's stunning strike for Nice. The French side are aiming to make home advantage count but Didier Digard's team have hit the skids domestically, a 1-0 weekend defeat at Brest leaving them without a win in six in Ligue 1. Heiko Vogel's Basel are struggling in Switzerland too, but the visitors can take some encouragement from the way they came from behind to hold runaway league leaders Young Boys to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
What the coaches say
Didier Digard, Nice coach: "We are very excited. The players are very engaged and we can't wait for this special occasion. We have turned the page on the Brest game [a 1-0 weekend defeat]; we are 100% focused on this match."
Heiko Vogel, Basel interim coach: "My opinion has not changed from last week. Nice is a team with very high individual quality. Their results in the last few weeks don't do them justice.
"I think we'll see a team on Thursday that really wants to make it to the semi-finals. We're trying to prevent them from doing so because we have the same goal."
What happens next?
The winners advance to the semi-finals where they will face the victors of the Lech vs Fiorentina tie. The Eden Arena in Prague, Czechia (pictured above) will host this season's Europa Conference League final on 7 June 2023.