BSC Young Boys 1 Sporting CP 3

BSC Young Boys v Sporting CP
February 15^th, 2024
Wankdorf Stadium
Europa League Play Off

The Warm Up

European football returns as we travel to Switzerland to take on BSC Young Boys at the Stadion Wankdorf. Never have I typed two terms into my Google search engine more carefully.

Switzerland is renowned for neutrality, banking, Toblerone, cow bells, yodelling and cheese. Cheese with giant holes in which is what Sporting will hope the BSC defence is full of. Unfortunately in the league there’s no evidence to support any notion this will be an easy game against a side with gaps at the back. Top of the Swiss league and the current Swiss champions, at home they’ve conceded just 7 times in 11 games and overall they’re averaging less than a goal a game with 22 goals in 23 games. This is their first game in the Europa League having dropped into the competition after finishing third in their Champions League group behind Manchester City and RB Leipzig. The two clubs have only met the once before in 2010 in a pre season game finishing 1-0 to Sporting. It should be noted we’re now into the knockout stages of the competition and it’s a two legged tie with the home game to follow on the 22nd of February so a draw away won’t be the worst result in the world remembering away goals no longer count as double. Top scorer with 9 goals Jean Pierre Nsame departed in January for Como. Goal scoring responsibilities will presumably now fall to Portuguese winger Joel Monteiro who has 6 in 22 league games following the club’s 3-3 draw away to Lugano on Saturday.

BSC have in recent season’s benefited from the demise of FC Basel to leapfrog them as Switzerland’s top club side. Swiss football mirrors that of Portugal in that clubs generally have to sell to survive and the list of big name players sold by Basel over recent years is highly impressive;

Sommer (Inter), Akanji (Manchester City), Schar (Newcastle), Elneny (Arsenal), Xhaka (Leverkusen), Rakatic (Sevilla) and Salah (Liverpool).

Incredibly for a side that won eight consecutive titles, followed by 5 top 3 finishes, Basel currently sit 10th of 12 clubs. So the question can be asked of how good BSC are as a side compared to how much they’ve benefited from Basel plummeting off the side of an Alpine mountain? Champions League money in smaller footballing nations such as Switzerland can often skew the competition whereby the club’s chasing don’t have the financial backing to compete for the title and one club continues to swell it’s coffers and be able to continually invest to stay ahead of its rivals as eight straight title wins suggest was the case here for many seasons. Now we see BSC benefiting from the same position with four title wins from the last five and nothing to suggest they won’t make it five from six. However league dominance is very different to European Competition and Sporting will have been thankful of all the names they could have drawn from sides finishing 3rd in their Champions League group they got that of BSC instead of Galatasaray, RC Lens, Feyenoord, AC Milan or Shakhtar Donetsk. They obviously couldn’t have yet been drawn to Braga or that lot down the road at this stage of the competition where clubs from the same nation are kept apart. I’ve never actually understood the logic behind keeping two sides from the same country apart in early rounds so if someone knows the answer and can explain it to me then I’m all ears.

One thing I’ve learned with Sporting and European football is how we retain an innate ability for us to do something incredibly stupid just when you think things are going well. I suffer the same affliction when talking to incredibly attractive women. All is going well and then I open my mouth and it’s like someone else has taken over control of my body and I say something incredibly stupid. We’d all love European glory but let’s be honest I don’t think any of us expect to be lifting this trophy and the longer the run the more the impact on the chances of lifting the Championship come the end of the season. Still every round swells the club coffers and keeps Portugal’s coefficient scores higher so double jeopardy I guess.

I’m currently writing this on Sunday evening post 5-0 win at home to Braga and the full time whistle has blown in the late game between Vitória and the neighbours and damn the home side went close to victory but having gone down to ten men they were unable to hold on drawing 2-2 with the equaliser coming in the 90^th minute. It leaves Sporting second by virtue of the head to head record having lost the Dérbi 2-1 but they remain with a game in hand after the cancellation of the Famalicão game. In the Afcon final Diomande failed to play any part in the game but he does at least come home a Champion as the Côte d'Ivoire came from 1-0 down to win 2-1.

The money markets

BSC 11/4 = 26.66% probability chance of a win
Draw 14/5 = 26.32% probability chance of a draw
Sporting 10/11 = 52.38% probability chance of win 

Team News

The big news is Coates is missing. Reis comes into the back three presumably to start on the left with Inácio central. Bragança comes in for Morita in the centre of midfield, Esgaio on the right in place of Geny. Edwards replaces Trincão in the forward three.

First Half

BSC kick off, Sporting will attack left to right in the first half.

1 45 seconds on the clock, Gonçalves sets up Gyökeres whose shot from close range is smothered by the keeper. Early warning shot across the bows for the Swiss champions

5 Gyökeres shot blocked and out for a corner

11 Lauper with a well struck shot from 20 yards saved by Adán. The opening ten had all been one way so a timely reminder to Sporting not to rest on their laurels. Best chance of the game so far

14 Mvuka shows skill dribbling into the Sporting box on the right. Cleared for a corner

15 Free header from Amenda at the far post from the corner. Great save from Adán to keep the score 0-0. Suddenly it’s BSC with the upper hand in this game

19 Lakomy drills a shot wide of the right post from distance. Sporting showing signs they’re missing Coates calmness and presence at the back

20 Gyökeres breaks from close to the halfway line. He’s falling as he tries a shot from 10 yards on the left side of the box and finds the side netting

21 Camara yellow for another foul on Gyökeres. He was lucky not to have been booked for the same challenge in the 4th minute. He’ll miss the second leg.

24 Gyökeres fires a shot low from 15 yards out left. Saved by the keeper. Good positioning again but once more fails to connect properly.

25 Deflected shot from 20 yards by Blum goes out for a corner

30 Entertaining opening half hour. At present it’s anyone’s game but Sporting’s defence just looking like they’ve got those European heebie jeebies at the back…

30 GOAL Well there was me suggesting Sporting have a mistake in them at the back and an own goal by Amenda who makes it BSC 0 Sporting CP 1. That’s true irony Alanis. Edwards drove in a cross from the right and the defender sliced it horribly into his own net. I was going to add that Trincão will feel disappointed with not starting in place of Edwards and typically it’s the Englishman with the assist

36 Mvuka now causing chaos out left this time gets a shot away from a narrow angle which Adán diverts for another corner

38 Of course having made the assist for the opener when I was tempted to say what a lack of input he’s had in the first half, Edwards is felled for a penalty to Sporting.

39 Gyökeres spots the ball. Yellow card shown to Colley for protests about where the ball has been spotted.

40 GOAL The Swede runs to the far corner with his hands in trademark Hannibal Lector fashion as he smashed home the penalty into the bottom left hand corner to make it BSC 0 Sporting CP 2.

41 GOAL BSC 1 Sporting CP 2. They didn’t hold the two goal advantage for long. Hadjam squared the ball across the box from the left and pushed out by Adán. The ball fell to Urginic whose shot could only be turned into the net by Adán. There’s those heebie jeebies. What’s the cliché? Something about the most dangerous time in football is when you’ve just scored and switch off? Maybe it’s not a cliché after all.

45 Looks like the goalscorer Urginic’s night is over. He connected with Quaresma as he took the shot and received treatment behind the goal and has gone down on the pitch seconds after coming back on. That’s shit housery 1.01 to give the replacement time to finish getting ready.

Plus three shown

46 Itten volleys home from 10 yards. Only problem for BSC is he was in Austria when he struck it he was that clearly offside.

Half time

BSC 1 Sporting CP 2

Well it’s certainly been an entertaining opening 45 in which the scoreline could easily been reversed as the two sides make their way off. In fact Sporting couldn’t have had many complaints had BSC scored 3 or 4 such was the quality of their chances in the first half. Sporting have benefited of course from an own goal and were in truth able to additionally benefit from the keeper bringing down Edwards when he was running away from goal and about to run the ball out of play. Sporting look at sixes and sevens at the back. Shame Diomande wasn’t back in time and match fit because you have to feel he’s a lot more suited to playing in the middle of a three than Inácio is. It wouldn't surprise me to see BSC score again unfortunately.

Second half

Sporting start the second half. BSC have made that change now as Niasse starts the second half.

47 GOAL Well that didn’t take long. BSC 1 Sporting CP 3. Gonçalves floated in a free kick from the right following a foul on Gyökeres and Inácio headed home from 8 yards.

52 Lakomy shown a yellow for pulling back Gyökeres shirt. The Swedish Panzer is unsurprisingly causing all sorts of problems all over the pitch

54 Gonçalves hits the post. Gyökeres broke from the halfway line and into the box. Squared the ball and Gonçalves tried to place it into the bottom right hand corner. Replay shows keeper just got his finger tips to that. Great save in that case.

58 Sporting looking dangerous on the counter attack again. Substitute Niasse puts the ball out for a corner. Reis heads over the bar from 6 yards

59 Hjulmand replaced by Morita. The Japanese international played an hour last time out and will have half hour tonight to just settle back into the side following his return from the Asia Cup

66 Edwards tries from 18 yards but the keeper could have saved that in his sleep quite frankly

68 Gyökeres off again down the left hand side. He tried to square the ball across but the ball deflects off a defender to safety. You only get away with so many warnings where the Swede is concerned.

70 You have to feel that Geny or Trincão could do a real number on their defence as they start to tire second half.

73 HAH! Geny and Trincão on. Someone’s clearly looking over my shoulder as I type. I didn’t expect it to be for Gyökeres and Gonçalves mind you.

79 Amenda showing signs he was watching the Superbowl Sunday night as he skies a chance high into the stand. On that evidence he could probably convert for 3 points from a good 50 yards out. NFL clubs take note

82 Apart from possibly breaking Blum’s nose with the back of his head unintentionally, Geny yet to have any impact and neither has Trincão.

83 Koindredi comes on for his debut for Bragança. Santos makes way for another debutant 18 year old Rafael Nel promoted to tonight’s squad from the B side. He’s got 5 goals in 18 games.

86 BSC find the net again but once more rightly ruled offside.

88 Camara shown a second yellow and gets his marching orders following a foul on Trincão. He should really have gone in the first half and was lucky to escape a yellow for his opening challenge on 4 minutes.

Plus four shown

+1 Geny pulls a chance wide of the right post from 18 yards. I’m glad he’s contributed something at least after suggesting he should come on and Trincão of course got fouled for the sending off. Fine I’m clutching at straws. I was wrong... Again. So sue me.

Final whistle blows.

Full time

BSC Young Boys 1 Sporting 3

The Final Word

Well it certainly wasn’t as convincing as the scoreline might suggest. With better finishing BSC would have deservedly gone in at half time with the lead. The quick third goal for Sporting didn’t quell their appetite for a second goal of their own and in fairness to the Swiss side their players found the net four times in the 90. It just so happened that two were offside and one was an own goal so you can’t win them all.

Regular readers might need to sit down before they read this because I’m going to give Gonçalves my man of the match for Sporting. Yes Gyökeres caused the most problems but the Portuguese assisted one, saw a shot pushed onto the post and I don’t think he really put a foot wrong tonight. Good with the link up play and given I’ve been his harshest critic at times this season I’m delighted to be proved wrong again and overall I do think he’s looked good in the eye the past few weeks and much improved from the first half of the season. Santos and Esgaio were virtual passengers at points tonight and it’s good to see Sporting play through the centre more. They definitely missed Coates at the back and I’m still not sold on Inácio. Yes he scored but he’s not a natural born leader when he plays in the back three centrally. On another night Sporting wouldn’t have benefited from everything they eventually did tonight over the course of the 90. They looked wobbly at the back on more than one occasion. Sometimes you get the rub of the green and sometimes you don’t. As Frank would sing – that’s life, that’s what all the people say. You’re riding high in April, shot down in May…