The 2004–05 season was Fussball Club Basel 1893's 112th in existence and the club's 11th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. FC Basel started the season off with various warm-up matches. These included teams from the Swiss lower league as well as teams from Liechtenstein, France and Germany. The FC Basel aims for the 2004–05 season were to defend their league title, to win the cup and as well as to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Overview As reigning champions Basel were favourites to retain their title and as Swiss champions, they entered the UEFA Champions League in third qualifying round. Basel's biggest signing in advance of the 2004–05 season was Kléber from Hannover 96. But in the other direction the Cameroonian international Timothée Atouba and Swiss international Mario Cantaluppi left the club. During the winter break they signed Patrick Müller from Mallorca.
The Campaign
Domestic League The Swiss Football Association (ASF-SFV) had changed the format of the domestic league the previous season and this format called Swiss Super League remains unaltered this season. There were ten teams competing in the top tier 2004–05 Swiss Super League. The teams played a double round-robin in the first half of the season and then another double round-robin in the second half. There were three points for a victory and one each for a draw. The champions and runners-up would enter the qualifying rounds of the 2005–06 Champions League, the third placed team would enter the UEFA Cup second qualifying round. The bottom placed team would be relegated, the second last team would play a play-off against relegation.
Basel's priority aim for the season was to win the championship for the second time in a row. The season started somewhat difficult, of the first four home matches only two were won. Nevertheless, Basel moved to the top of the league table. During September the team lost two away games in a row, but despite this they led the league table by seven points by the winter break.
The league was originally contested by ten teams. On 4 February 2005 the parent company of Servette FC was declared bankrupt. As a consequence of the bankruptcy Servette FC had their license revoked. The eighteen results from the team's first half of the season remained in the league table. The club's second half matches were cancelled entirely and so the second half of the season was competed with only nine clubs.
Basel completed all the season's seventeen home ties undefeated, winning thirteen and drawing four. The highest home attendance being 31,383 in the 4–1 win against their title rivals Thun on 7 May 2005. Just four days later Basel secured the championship in their third last round of the season. At the end of the season they completed their championship aim, winning the title ten points clear of Thun, who were their closest rivals. Servette were subsequently demoted to the Second Tier. Schaffhausen played the play-off against relegation and were able to remain in the top flight.
One of the season's highlights for the team, was the 8–1 home win on 12 September against Grasshoppers in which Giménez scored four goals. Matías Delgado, Mladen Petrić, Djamel Mesbah and César Carignano each netted once. On 20 April Giménez also scored for goals in the away game against Aarau as Basel won 5–0. He also managed at hat-trick on 4 May as Basel won 5–0 in the away game against Xamax. Giménez was the team's and the league's top goal scorer with 27 goals. Matías Delgado was the team's second top scorer with 11 league goals. César Carignano scored seven and Julio Hernán Rossi scored six.
Domestic Cup Basel entered the Swiss Cup in the first round and the team's clear aim for the Cup was to win it. Teams from Super League and Challenge League were seeded in this round. In a match, the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league, if applicable.
FC Oberdorf (18 September 2004) In the first round Basel were drawn against local amateur club FC Oberdorf, who at that time played in the fifth tier of Swiss football. The grounds that Oberdorf used at that time was an artificial turf field and on one side was a small grandstand with 100 covered seats and space for maximum 2,000 spectators. Because of the big fixture in the Cup temporary stands were built and the match was played in front of over 5,000 spectators. Head-coach Christian Gross left seven regular players out of the team and played with a B-team. Nevertheless, they took command of the game from the first whistle and Julio Hernán Rossi netted their first goal after three minutes. Rossi's next shot ten minutes later rebounded off the post and another ten minutes later he scored his second goal. Rossi remained lively and his next shot also hit the post. Basel let the amateurs play their game but after about an hour it was obvious that their strength decreased. Mile Sterjovski added a third goal on 70 minutes, Boris Smiljanić hit the post with a header and David Degen added another goal and the result was 4–0 for the visitors.
FC Meyrin (24 October 2004) In the second round the teams from Super League were seeded and could not play against each other. In a match, the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league. Basel were drawn against second tier semi-professional team FC Meyrin. Their stadium Bois-Carré (Meyrin) was also small and so they also built temporary stands and the game was played in front of a record 3,148 spectators. Basel took command of the game from the first minutes and Julio Hernán Rossi was again in good form and his sprints into the free spaces were very quick. It was he who netted Basel's first goal after 15 minutes. Basel remained in control of the game, but it was the hosts who scored the equaliser after a counterattack just before the half time whistle. Basel tool control of the game again but the lower-tier team defended with everything they had. Christian Giménez was substituted in the 69th minute and just a seconds later he put the visitors into the lead again. Seven minutes later Giménez netted his second personal goal and the result was 3–1 for Basel.
FC Thun (20 November 2004) In the third round the ties were drawn, there was no seeding, everyone could meet everyone. The home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league, otherwise to the team that was drawn first. Basel were drawn away against Super League team Thun. Basel head-coach Christian Gross fielded his strongest team, however four players were injured and Benjamin Huggel was missing due to a suspension. The game between the two teams was at eye level, both teams created their chances. Mario Raimondi was able to put the hosts a goal up in the 57th minute, but the lively Julio Hernán Rossi equalised ten minutes later. The match went into extra time but no further goals were scored and a penalty shoot-out was held to make the decision. In the shoot-out Boris Smiljanić missed Basel's second penalty, then Mario Raimondi missed Thun's third and as Mile Sterjovski missed Basel's last spot-kick it was clear that Basel lost 4–3 on penalties.
Conclusion Thus Basel missed their aim of winning the Cup. The Cup final was played on 16 May 2005 in which upper tier Zürich beat lower tier Luzern 3–1 to win the trophy.
Europe Champions League Third qualifying round Because Basel entered the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round their aim was to reach the group stage. However, they were drawn against Internazionale.
Internazionale (11 August 2004) The first leg was played in St. Jakob-Park and was arbitrated by English referee Graham Poll. Pushed on by the sold-out 30,000 spectator crowd the Swiss champions Basel took the early initiative and it was their Argentinian attacking duo Christian Giménez and Julio Hernán Rossi dictating the flow of the game from the very beginning. Inter defended well in the early stage and after they had withstood the early storm, they started to get their game together, stringing their passes together and it was the away side who made the first strike. In the 19th minute, Adriano powered past two Basel defenders and placed his shot low beyond the onrushing goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler. Basel were not shocked by this early strike against them, and countered this just six minutes later. Mario Cantaluppi surprised the Inter defence by lobbing a free-kick high to the near post, here it was controlled by Rossi who then, with a smart overhead kick, played it into the danger area. Benjamin Huggel was ready and headed in from close range. Inter reacted immediately, but Dejan Stanković's powerful long-range shot rebounded off the post. Then the game opened and Basel could have scored again as Huggel's right-footed volley from about 12 yards narrowly flashed wide. However, it was Inter who had the best opportunity before the break. Again, it was Adriano rushing towards goal, Zuberbühler rushed out against him but could only parry the ball straight into the path of Zé Maria, but his shot from close range hit the bar. Basel started into the second period as they had started in the first, pushing forwards with tempo. Francesco Toldo made to good saves, first parrying a long-range lob from Matías Delgado and then a hard hit shot from Rossi. The Italian championship had not yet started and the Swiss season had already been going for a month, therefore the Inter players were tired towards the end, however Basel failed to take advantage of this, Huggel coming closest in the 78th minute as he hit a low drive from the edge of the penalty area, but the visitors were saved by the post. The game ended with a 1–1 draw.
Return match (25 August 2004) In the second leg it was Inter who were quickly into play, with Álvaro Recoba forcing Basel goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler into a good save a few seconds after kick-off. Only a few seconds later the home crowd were able to celebrate as Adriano put Inter ahead with a low shot precise inside the far post after a pass from Dejan Stanković. Inter controlled the game in the early stages and scored their second goal after just 13 minutes. A superb shot from Stankovic, following a neat combination with Adriano gave the home team a two-goal advantage. Despite the two-goal lead, the home side refused to sit back and Zuberbühler had to make another good save after a long distance left-foot shot by Recoba. After 26 minutes, Inter goalie Francesco Toldo deflected a powerful free-kick from Basel captain Murat Yakin wide. Inter went close to scoring a third goal just minutes later as Stankovic shot wide from a good position after a combination between Zé Maria and Adriano on the right wing. Basel had another dangerous free-kick shortly before half-time, Mario Cantaluppi's kick was slightly wide. Basel fought themselves back into the game. Just four minutes into the second half as Austrainlien midfielder Mile Sterjovski, just inside the penalty area, controlled a cross from his left to dribble past Stankovic and score with an exact right-foot shot. However, the home team restored their two-goal lead only four minutes later as Adriano took on a ball from Stankovic outside the penalty area. He took a few paces forward and fired low, left footed, beyond keeper Zuberbühler. The home team secured their victory a few minutes later, this time Recoba's left footed shot dropped into the net. The Uruguayan forward controlled a long pass from Juan Sebastián Verón, he turned towards the Basel goal and shot from about 18 metres and the game ended for Basel with an undeserved high 1–4 defeat.
Basel lost 5–2 on aggregate and subsequently dropped into the 2004–05 UEFA Cup.
UEFA Cup First round Basel's clear aim for this competition was to reach the group stage and to advance to the knock-out stage, which was to start after the winter break. In the first round Basel were drawn against the Russian side FC Terek Grozny.
Terek Grozny (16 September 2004)