The 2014–15 FC Basel season was the 122nd season in club history and the club's 20th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football.
Basel were the reigning Swiss Super League champions. They prepared their season with various warm-up matches against teams from Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. Their 2014–15 Swiss Super League season began on 19 July with an away game against Aarau. Basel qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, starting in the group stage. They were drawn in Group B against Real Madrid, Liverpool and Ludogorets Razgrad and started on 16 July with an away tie against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. In the first round of the 2014–15 Swiss Cup, played on 23 August 2014, Basel were drawn away against CS Italia. The final was played on 7 June 2015.
Club FC Basel Holding AG The FC Basel Holding AG owns 75% of FC Basel 1893 AG and the other 25% is owned by the club FC Basel 1893 members. The club FC Basel 1893 functions as a base club independent of the holding company and the AG. FC Basel 1893 AG is responsible for the operational business of the club, e.g. the 1st team, a large part of the youth department and the back office are affiliated there. All decisions that affect the club FC Basel 1893 are made within the AG.
Club management The FC Basel 120th AGM took place in April 2014 and was held in Basel's congress center. The members of the board were all re-elected unanimously. These are president Bernhard Heusler, vice-president Adrian Knup, sport director Georg Heitz, financial manager Stephan Werthmüller and marketing manager René Kamm. The other three directors are Reto Baumgartner since 2008, Dominik Donzé since 2009 and Benno Kaiser since 1999 and they were also willing to continue and they were also elected without counter-votes.
Team management Basel's team manager was Paulo Sousa. On 28 May 2014, Basel announced he had signed a three-year contract. His assistants were Ignacio Torreño, Víctor Sánchez and Manuel Cordeiro, all three of which were brought in by Sousa. Massimo Colomba remained the goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni was head of the FCB Youth System, while the head coach of the Youth Team (U–21) was Thomas Häberli.
Overview
Offseason and preseason At the end of the 2013–14 FC Basel season, four first-team players left the club to continue their careers elsewhere: Yann Sommer to Borussia Mönchengladbach; Valentin Stocker to Hertha BSC; Kay Voser to Fulham; and Admir Seferagić to Schaffhausen. Moreover, David Degen retired from football. Basel's four biggest signings for the beginning of the new season were Tomáš Vaclík from Sparta Prague; Yoichiro Kakitani from Cerezo Osaka; Derlis González from Benfica; and Shkëlzen Gashi from Grasshopper. Also new to the team were Luca Zuffi, who transferred from Thun, and Walter Samuel, who joined from Internazionale on a free transfer.
Midseason During the winter break, two team members transferred to Bundesliga clubs: Serey Dié to VfB Stuttgart and Marcelo Díaz to Hamburger SV. Two further players were loaned out: Naser Aliji to Vaduz from 17 January until 30 June 2015, and Giovanni Sio to Bastia from 1 February until 30 June 2015. In the other direction, on 10 January, Basel announced that left-back Adama Traoré had joined from Vitória de Guimarães, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.
The campaign Domestic league The club's primary objective for the team in the new season was for them to win the Swiss Super League championship for the sixth-straight year.
First half of season . Basel's 2014–15 Swiss Super League season began well with an away victory on 19 July against Aarau. Basel won their next three matches as well, two at home against Luzern and Zürich and one away against Thun. However, this run was stopped in the fifth round after Basel lost 2–0 at home to St. Gallen, with Albert Bunjaku scoring both goals for the guests. Two further victories, away against Sion in the Stade Tourbillon and at home against Young Boys, were followed by a defeat at the Letzigrund against Grasshopper. At this point, criticism started mounting against new manager Paulo Sousa from the local press, in part due to his continual squad rotation, not only player but also position rotation for the players. Sousa himself, kept answering by referring to “a process”. A home win against Vaduz was followed by a disappointing home draw against Thun and an upsetting defeat against St. Gallen at the AFG Arena. By this time, criticism had risen to its highest, even from the local fan clubs. However, following four wins from the following five league matches, the negative voices slowly changed into a positive direction. In round 17, as league leaders, Basel played the away tie against second-placed Zürich and won 2–1; Shkëlzen Gashi scored both goals. At the end of the first half of the season, Basel, with 41 points, led the league table, eight points ahead of their nearest rivals Zürich and the Young Boys.
Second half of season Basel started into the second half of the season with that advantage and with a victory away from home against the Grasshoppers. However, a home draw against Sion followed, then a defeat in the Stade de Suisse against the Young Boys, who moved closer in the table, and again, the criticism mounted against head coach Sousa. Repeatedly, from both press and fans, as the rotation of players and positions continued. Sousa continued to refer to “a process”. The triple load, domestic league, cup and Champions League required this rotation. The elimination from the Champions League worked another negative feeling, but victories in the quarterfinal and semi-final of the cup and six victories in the league worked positive. Amongst these were the 4–1 away big win against Luzern, goal scoreres 2x Gashi, Delgado, Callà, and the two home big wins, 6–0 against Aarau, goal scorers, 2x Gashi, 2x Delgado, 2x Streller, and 5–1 against Zürich, hattrick Embolo. With these victories FCB took a big step towards the championship title, as they then led the table with ten points.
However, the home game against FC Zürich was overshadowed by a ten-minute interruption. The moods had already been heated, following the red cards against Davide Chiumiento and Shkëlzen Gashi, then because pyrotechnic material flew close to the playing field after the Zürich goal, especially from the guest fan-sector, the referee interrupted the game and sent both teams into the changing rooms. Then, after the match there were further incidents outside the stadium.
Despite a home defeat against Luzern and an away defeat against Aarau, Basel moved clear at the top of the table. They won the championship 12 points ahead of Young Boys and 25 points above third placed Zürich. The club's aim of the championship title had been achieved.
Domestic cup The club's clear aim for the Basel team for the 2014–15 Swiss Cup was for them to regain the cup title. In the previous two seasons, they had ended both cup competitions as runners-up. In the first-round teams from Super League and Challenge 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.
CS Italien GE ( 23 August 2014) Basel were drawn against CS Italien GE, an amateur team who at that time played in the 2. Liga, the sixth tier of Swiss football. The match was played in Stade des Arberes in Meyrin with an attendance of 2,650 fans. As expected, the amateurs had no chance. The FCB 4–0 victory was a clear victory, however, it was not a big win, it was not a show of force, as one could have expected. But it was a seriously downplayed performance against a second division club five classes lower. CS Italien managed exactly one shot at Germano Vailati's goal, while FCB had further chances in addition to the goals from Delgado (7th), Embolo (30th), Frei (53rd) and Gashi (93rd), some were unfortunate and some were excessively playful, but they remained unused chances.
Winterthur (21 September 2014) In the second-round teams from Super League were seeded, the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league, if applicable. Basel were drawn against Winterthur, who played in the second tier of Swiss football. The match was played in the Schützenwiese and referee was Stephan Studer. Head coach Paulo Sousa let the Basel team play without various of their top performers such as Marco Streller, Fabian Frei and Shkelzen Gashi for this cup tie. Others stepped in for this trio. First and foremost, the 17-year-old striker Breel Embolo, who decided the game early with his goals in the 36th and 42nd minute to lead the game 3–0 at half time. In the 67th minute, the teenager also scored the 4–0 and completed his hattrick. The first Basel goal was scored by Mohamed Elneny in the 32nd minute with a shot from 20 meters, that found its way into the goal via the inside of the post. Basel had a difficult first 30 minutes. Winterthur played out some good moves and created good chances to score, before the first Basel goal and then, especially at the beginning of the second half, when FCB reserve keeper Germano Vailati had to make a few saves. Among other things, he brilliantly fended off a free kick from Tunahan Cicek on 56 minutes. Then, at the latest after the 0–4 and the dismissal of Dennis Iapichino, for a last grasp foul in the 71st, the hosts’ resistance was broken in front of the 5,050 spectators in the sold-out stadium.
Wohlen (29 October 2014) In the third round, matches between teams from the Super League were avoided as much as possible. Two clashes of this kind took place anyway. The team from the lower league received home rights, otherwise the team drawn first got home rights. Basel were drawn against second tier Wohlen, who were then the Swiss Challenge League leaders. The match was played in the Stadion Niedermatten in Wohlen, which has a capacity of 3,734, so the hosts’ built an additional grandstand for their fans and the attendance on the matchday was 4,100 spectators. Referee in this tie was Adrien Jaccottet. The FCB team, who competed without Shkelzen Gashi and Serey Die, among others, undoubtedly wielded the finer blade. With their first two chances at goal, FC Basel proved the difference in Wohlen. After eleven minutes, the Japanese attacker Yoichiro Kakitani converted the cross from Matias Delgado with a side-kick. Five minutes before the break, Kakitani provided an ideal pass into Giovanni Sio's path, which Sio safely netted to make it 2–1 at half time. In between, Mërgim Brahimi in the 14th minute had brought the underdogs back into the game with a foul penalty. With increasing playing time, the difference in class became more visible. The favourite let the ball circulate skilfully within their own ranks and gave FC Wohlen no further significant chances to score. The way that the FCB team brought the victory over the rounds was masterful. Substitute Breel Embolo ended the game in the 91st minute.
Münsingen (4 March 2015)