Basel v Belenenses background
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Article summary
Basel are unbeaten in six European games this season as they welcome Belenenses in UEFA Europa League Group I, the Portuguese side yet to concede on the road.
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Article body
FC Basel 1893 are unbeaten in Europe this term as they prepare to host Os Belenenses in UEFA Europa League Group I.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition. This is Belenenses's first encounter with Swiss opponents.
• Basel's 12 games against Portuguese teams have ended W2 D4 L6 (W2 D1 L3 at home – W0 D3 L3 in Portugal).
Form guide
• Basel are unbeaten in six European fixtures this season (W4 D2).
• Belenenses are undefeated away from home this term (W1 D2) and have yet to concede on the road this campaign. However, they come into this contest after a 4-0 loss to ACF Fiorentina on matchday two – their heaviest home defeat in UEFA competition. Fiorentina boss Paulo Sousa was Basel coach last season.
• Basel have featured in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage six times – they have made it to the knockout stage on four occasions and been eliminated twice.
• Belenenses are making their UEFA group stage debut. This is set to be the longest campaign in their European history – at least ten games.
Trivia and links
• The journey from Basel to Lisbon is around 1,650km.
• The 2016 UEFA Europa League final will be played at Basel's St. Jakob-Park on 18 May.
• Basel's Mark Janko played in Portugal with FC Porto from January to August 2012.
• Basel are one of ten domestic champions in this season's group stage, along with KF Skenderbëu (Albania), Qarabağ FK (Albania), APOEL FC (Cyprus), FC Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic), FC Midtjylland (Denmark), FK Partizan (Serbia), Molde FK (Norway), Celtic FC (Scotland) and KKS Lech Poznań (Poland).
The coaches
• Urs Fischer was hired by Basel this summer following Paulo Sousa's move to Fiorentina. The one-time FC Zürich defender has already led Zürich (2011/12) and FC Thun (2013/14) into the UEFA Europa League group stage, though neither side made it to the knockout phase.
• Ricardo Sá Pinto returned to Portugal to take charge of Belenenses in the summer following two years with FK Crvena zvezda, OFI Crete and Atromitos FC. He had earlier coached Sporting, the club where he made his name. He was a losing UEFA Cup finalist with Sporting in 2005.
