Conference League – Basel? ŠK Slovan is waiting for a completely different match today – ŠPORT.SK

today 10:45 | Slovan Bratislava was in a critical situation after the opening two duels of the Conference League group. After disappointments in the game and results against paper-less rivals Žalgiris Vilnius (0:0) and Pjunik Yerevan (0:2), he had two matches against the group’s favorite FC Basel. The Slovak champion surprisingly won 2:0 in Switzerland after the best performance of the season so far. “Nobody expected it,” said coach Vladimír Weiss senior on Wednesday. Also read Weiss: Slovan is not a holiday institution. 11 of the most faithful will play against Basel A win in Basel? The first two duels of striker Ľubomír Tupta, who visited Sion in Switzerland last spring, were more surprising, the result was not so surprising: “I was more surprised by the first two matches that Slovan didn’t win. He has a very high-quality team and he showed it in the third game. He managed it even against such a difficult opponent as Basel.” Basel is the second most successful club in the country after Grasshopper Zurich. Although he has not been a champion since 2017, he previously won eight titles in a row. Over the last decade, he played three times in the round of 16 of the Champions League and in the semi-finals of the Europa League. “Although YB Bern has reigned supreme in recent years, Basel is still one of the best teams. Everyone knows what power he has. Especially when it comes to working with young football players, but also with older ones, who complement and manage it well,” says Tupta. Ivan Rakitic and Xherdan Shaqiri also grew up in the Basel academy, Mohammed Salah made his first steps in Europe here. Slovan surprised Basel. Now it will be completely different. The former youth representative of Slovakia expects greater offensive activity from Basel at Tehelno polí: “When I was still in Switzerland, Basel played attacking football. He had many chances in every match, scored many goals. But I don’t remember any big chance from the match against Slovan, maybe one. Maybe they were surprised that Slovan ran out on them like that. I think it will be a completely different game now.” Also read Weiss after horror in Trenčín: This era in Slovan must end! From tomorrow they will go… Both teams lost during the weekend. Slovan shamefully 0:4 in Trenčín, Basel 0:1 in Lugano. While Slovan leads the league by one point ahead of Trnava with one match to play, Basel is only seventh in the ten-member table, although it has also played one less match. “Many teams suffer from the fact that they play in European cups and domestic competition, and they may not have such a high-quality and wide-ranging squad. The Swiss league is leveling off, the dominance of the top clubs is ending,” says the native of Jarovnice in the Sabinov district. Last year, Sion destroyed Basel 4:0. Last May, he played half time when Sion destroyed Basel 4:0. Since then, Slovan’s opponent has significantly changed the squad: “They changed practically 8 out of 10 players. But I played, for example, against Andi Zeqiri, the striker of the Swiss national team, who was bought by Brighton in England (he is visiting in Basel). He has great quality, although he didn’t make much of an impact in the first match.” He was particularly hampered by the excellently functioning defensive triangle with stoppers Guram Kashi, Vernon De Marco and defensive midfielder Dzab Kankava. The so far criticized Juraj Kucka, who played the best match since coming to Slovan, also made a significant contribution. “Slovan has been building on this lately, as he doesn’t like it very much up front, even according to coach Weiss,” states Tupta. He wishes “Belasym” a victory in the second confrontation with the Swiss vice-champion: “I believe that Slovan will succeed again. That he will succeed in the next two matches and advance from the group. It would help the whole of Slovak football.” Also read Prievan v Slovan? Half of the staff’s contracts are ending, there is also uncertainty around the coach… Following in the footsteps of Verratti and Weiss Tupt, he was 16 years old when he left Tatrano Prešov for Catania. After a single season, he changed it to Hellas Verona. He spent seven years here, but played only 26 matches. He played more on loan in Wisla Kraków, Ascoli, Sion and last season in Liberec. In the summer, he transferred to Pescara, where the current Slovan captain Vladimír Weiss Jr. also worked. The team is currently third in the third highest Italian competition: “There were offers in the summer, staying in Liberec was also an option. In the end, it didn’t turn out the way I imagined. I played against Pescara, there were excellent players like Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Marco Verratti. I also came here because of my promotion ambitions.” After seven rounds played, Tupta has 194 minutes on his account and has not yet scored.