Cod Almighty | Article

by Martin Handsley

23 September 2002

After winning their first ever Champions League game 2-0 against Spartak Moscow, Christian Gross's FC Basel meet Liverpool on Wednesday.

My plan was to go to all of the home games and try and get to the Moscow away game. Getting tickets for any of Basel's home leg Champions League games has been a nightmare, all tickets being sold out within a couple of days of going on sale. What is it with football clubs that allows them to balls up so well when trying to distribute tickets to big games? I remember the problems Grimsby Town had when organising tickets for the Wembley games, and the problems Mariners fans encountered then were 10 times worse in Basel. I queued for five and a half hours to get tickets for all of the home games. Initially the were four queues to four booths, and you can only imagine the chaos when, at 8:00am only three booths opened up!

After all the hassle getting tickets I was hoping for a good game with great atmosphere, and that is exactly what I got. St Jacob Park was packed to the rafters for the game against the Russians.

Just before the game a great piece of choreographed fanship saw the "pontoon" of St Jacob Park seeming burst open with a white sunburst.

The "pontoon" is normally standing and has a great atmosphere, but for all Euro games the club has installed seating which really does dampen the atmosphere a little, though the rest of the stadium more than made up for this.

The first half was excellent from Basel's point of view, just as they did against Celtic, they controlled the midfield, and but for some strange refereeing decisions may have gone into at the break a couple of goals to the good. These ref decisions saw the famous coin repellent umbrella's make their first Champions League apperance as the officials left the field of play.

Two second half goals, the first on 50 mins by local boy Hakan Yakin, the second 5 minutes later, by Brazilian Julio Hernan Rossi (a bloody great player) sealed a good win for FCB, which for a day at least (until Valencia beat Liverpool) also saw them top Group B.

Now onto Liverpool on Wednesday. The way FCB are playing and with Christian Gross having a point to prove in England (he feels he was hounded out of the Spurs job, and not given a fair deal by supporters and press alike), I can see FCB getting a result from this game. Sure it will be tough, Liverpool are a superb side, but I predict at least a draw for the Swiss Champions!