Basel's borderline battle

Short journey
A journey of 136km separates the Ligue 1 side from their opening UEFA Cup Group E opponents, and Strasbourg's allocation of 1,400 tickets at the Swiss champions' 31,000-capacity St. Jakob-Park stadium was quickly snapped up by supporters.

French travellers
Indeed, some 2,500 Strasbourg fans are expected to travel for the match which pits the most easterly team in France's top flight against their German-speaking neighbours from Basel. But for some in the Strasbourg camp, language should not be a problem.

Border region
The Alsace region has long been considered an area where the German and French traditions co-exist, and Strasbourg embody that. Club president Egon Gindorf has dual French and German citizenship while executive director Marc Keller played in the Bundesliga with 1. FC Kaiserslautern. And while most other clubs in France are keen to use English as a second language, Strasbourg's website reflects the concerns of local supporters by publishing stories in German as well as French.

First meeting
However, on Thursday night they will be meeting their rivals from Basle for the first time in competitive action, and heading into unknown territory. "It will be nice to have support from our fans but we'll also be discovering a new stadium and a new style of football," said Strasbourg defender Yves Deroff.

Miserable run
While Basel top the Swiss league, 2004/05 French League Cup winners Strasbourg have been on a miserable run in Ligue 1, lying second from bottom of the table. However, they have impressed in the UEFA Cup, beating another German-speaking side - Austria's Grazer AK - 7-0 on aggregate in the first round.

Pressure off
"It will be a nice tie," said midfielder Pascal Johansen, who played in the UEFA Champions League with Olympique de Marseille. "We can play without pressure, while Basel will have pressure on them as they lead their league and dropped into the UEFA Cup from the UEFA Champions League."

Basel roar
Christian Gross's team will also want to avoid more UEFA Cup upset against French opposition. Basel reached the last 32 last term, only to succumb to LOSC Lille Métropole 2-0 on aggregate. Basel's famously vocal followers will have to be in good voice to drown out such nagging thoughts tonight.