97: FC BASEL

FC Basel was founded a good 117 years ago. it is one of the most important clubs in swiss football's history, and currently the most financially potent. before the 1973/74 season, the club had had seven seasons of quite to very unsuccessful runs in the continental tournaments, so it was quite a surprise to see them beat belgian tradicionals and champions Clube Brugge in Round of 16 of the European Champions Cup. The 1x2 loss in belgium was reverted with an impressive and historical 6x4 home win. in the quarterfinals, though, scottish giants Celtic proved to be too much. the 3x2 home win in the city boardering france and germany was equalized with a 2x3 in glasgow. Celtic scored another one in extra time and qualified.

it took almost 30 years for the club to leave a lasting mark again. ironically, it was a matchup against Celtic, now only light favorites, that started the season in 2002. the third qualifying round of the Champions League was on, and Basel suffered a 1x3 defeat in scotland. but that away goal by Gimenez was important: the team, with the Yakin brothers and Rossi in the starting lineup, eliminated Hendrik Larsson's Celtic with a 2x0 win and finally was in the group stage of the Champions League for the first time.

Rossi and Hakan Yakin scored the goals in their first match against Spartak Moscow, the 2x0 cause euphoria in Basel. but the two strongest opponents, Liverpool FC and Valencia FC, were still to come. hernan rossi scored an equalizer at anfield, and with the 1x1 tie in england, Basel continued second in the group. but they lost that spot after a 2x6 thrashing by Valencia, at the time coached by Rafa Benitez. Basel was able to tie the return game 2x2, but would have to beat both Spartak and Liverpool to still advance to the second group phase. it worked out in moscow, with goals from their argentinian strikers Rossi and Gimenez, and Michael Owen's 3x3 equalizer five minutes from the end wasn't enough for Liverpool after losing again to Valencia - Basel were in the top 16!

at the time, a second group phase was played, and the competition seemed overwhelming: Manchester United with Van Nistelrooy, Barthez and Giggs; Deportivo La Coruña with Roy Makaay and Capdevila; and Juventus Turin, with Buffon, Del Piero, Thuram, Edgar Davids and Pavel Nedved. any chance for (now) star coach Christian Gross and his men? Giménez scored the fastest goal in Champions League history in the first match at home, against Manchester United, but Van Nistelrooy's two goals helped the brits win 3x1. In Turin, 0x4, with goals from Trezeguet and Del Piero. finally, february 19, a 1x0 win over Deportivo to keep up the hope. but the loss in spain settled it, Basel were out. they did manage an impressive tie at the old trafford, and they beat Juve 2x1 with a goal in overtime. it was still an exciting season and a good job by the swiss underdogs.

in the 2005/06 season, the swiss now in europe every year, Christian Gross was even more successful. although it didn't look like it: FC Basel once again played the Champions League qualifiers and beat germans Werder Bremen 2x1 at home - it was not enough, since Werder beat them 3x0 in the Weserstadion. so it was UEFA Cup for them, and the team was quite fine: Mladen Petric, today at Hamburg, was the star, together with Julio Hernan Rossi, hero from that 2002/03 season. Basel qualified for the group phase easily, and the group seemed doable: Racing Strasbourg, Tromso, Red Star Belgrade - and Roma, the favorites. but the matches started with a shock: 0x2 loss at home to Strasbourg, and Basel were almost written off the top 3 already. by the way, Boka, from the Ivory Coast, scored the second goal; he plays for Stuttgart and will play his second world cup this season. Rossi and Delgado scored, though, for an imporatn away win in Belgrade. Basel beat tough norwegian team Tromso after coming back from 1x3 down with a 4x3, so even the 1x3 loss in Roma wasn't enough to eliminate the swiss team.

Basel were now to play AS Monaco in the round of 32, a team that had Maicon (current European Champion with Internazionale) and veteran striker from italy, Christian Vieri. 1x0 at home, 1x1 in monte carlo, round of 16 was reached! Basel now were to play Strasbourg once again (Roma also were still in the running), and this time they beat the french 2x0, with the second goal scored by Kuzmanovic, today a starter in Serbia's national team and playing for VfB Stuttgart, same club where Christian Gross is now coaching. this was enough to get to european quarterfinals for the first time since 1974. there, they managed a 2x0 against the english club Middlesbrough, where two-time European Cup finalist Gaizka Mendieta played alongside dutch striker Jimmy Hasselbaink. Steve McLaren was their coach, even before his spell as English Team manager. and they did come back, even after being 0x1 down at home: the fourth goal came in the last minute, and the 4x1 ended Basel's european dream traumatically.

FC Basel has been in the Champions League since, and even beat FC Barcelona 1x0 in the Nou Camp this 2009/10 season - but they are still searching for some real european glory. 21 seasons in Europe, though, make them a quite well established brand.