UECL 2023 Trabzonspor - Basel match facts

Turkish champions Trabzonspor bid to advance further in UEFA competition than ever before as they take on Swiss side Basel, who have played more matches in the UEFA Europa Conference League than any other club.

Trabzonspor registered nine points in UEFA Europa League Group H, winning all three home games and losing all three away, to finish a point behind both Ferencváros and Monaco in third place, while Basel were denied top spot in UEFA Europa Conference League Group H on head-to-head record by Slovan Bratislava after picking up 11 points. The Swiss club have since dismissed head coach Alexander Frei, replacing him in early February on an interim basis with the club's sporting director Heiko Vogel.

Previous meetings

The teams have been paired once previously, in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League group stage. The first game, in Trabzon, ended 2-2, the second, in Basel, 2-0 to the Swiss side, who would progress as group winners on 13 points. Basel went on to reach the quarter-finals, while their Turkish opponents ended up bottom of the section with just that one point earned from the home encounter with their Swiss rivals.

Those matches against Basel are Trabzonspor's only previous UEFA encounters with Swiss opposition.

Basel's all-time record against Turkish sides is W3 D1 L1, their only previous two-legged knockout tie bringing victory over Yeni Malatyaspor in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round (2-0 a, 1-2 h). They also won their first match in Turkey, beating Antalyaspor 5-2 in the 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup group stage, so are unbeaten in the country (W2 D1).

Form guide

Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor claimed their seventh Turkish Süper Lig title in 2021/22, ending a wait of 38 years to be crowned national champions. Their European campaign ended in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-offs (1-2 h, 0-3 a) against a Roma side that would go on to lift the trophy.

As Turkish champions, the Black Sea club kicked off this season's European campaign in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, where they were ousted by Copenhagen (1-2 a, 0-0 h). Abdullah Avcı's side therefore crossed over to the UEFA Europa League group stage, in which Trabzonspor had finished first, second and fourth in previous campaigns. They completed the set this season after taking three points off all three rivals – Ferencváros (2-3 a, 1-0 h), Cvena zvezda (2-1 h, 1-2 a) and Monaco (1-3 a, 4-0 h). Trabzonspor have been defeated in all of their previous three UEFA Europa League round of 32 ties, losing all six matches.

Despite that clean sweep of home wins in Group H, Trabzonspor had been without a victory in seven European fixtures in Trabzon (D3 L4) before overcoming Crvena zvezda on Matchday 2. Those included two games in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying phase (D1 L1).

Basel

Runners-up in the 2021/22 Swiss Super League, 12 points behind champions FC Zürich, Basel also had a lengthy run in the UEFA Europa Conference League last season, progressing from the second qualifying round to the round of 16, where, having topped their group to bypass the knockout play-offs, they were eliminated by Marseille (1-2 a, 1-2 h).

This season, under new head coach Frei, the former Switzerland striker, Basel booked a return ticket to the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage by successfully coming through three qualifying ties for the second successive campaign, Crusaders, Brøndby – on penalties – and CSKA-Sofia all being defeated as the Swiss side secured an 18th European group campaign. They made it through their section for the 12th time – and fourth in a row – by taking six points off Pyunik (3-1 h, 2-1 a), four off Žalgiris Vilnius (1-0 a, 2-2 h) and one off Slovan (0-2 h, 3-3 a) to finish as runners-up to the Slovakian champions.

Basel ended a four-game winless run in European away games (D1 L3) with that 1-0 victory in Lithuania on Matchday 2. They are unbeaten on the road in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage (W3 D3), their only away loss in the competition proper having been to Marseille in the first leg of last season's round of 16.

UEFA Europa Conference League squad changes

Trabzonspor

In: Bruno Peres, Serkan Asan, Edin Višća
Out: Jean Evrard Kouassi (Zhejiang), Montassir Lahtimi, Dorukhan Toköz, Yusuf Erdoğan (Adana Demirspor)

Basel

In: Emmanuel Essiam, Hugo Novoa (Leipzig, loan), Hugo Vogel
Out: Noah Katterbach (Köln, end loan), Sayfallah Ltaief (Winterthur, loan), Ádám Szalai (released), Tician Tuchi (Xamax, loan)

Links and trivia 

Trabzonspor's Marc Bartra and Basel's Arnau Comas are both Catalonian natives who began their careers at Barcelona. The two defenders were the only players in their respective teams to start and finish all six European group games during the autumn.

Trabzonspor are one of six reigning domestic champions competing in the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout play-offs – along with CFR Cluj, Lech Poznań, Ludogorets, Qarabağ and Sheriff.

This is Basel's 27th match in all rounds of the UEFA Europa Conference League – a competition record.