Cod Almighty | Article

by Martin Handsley

24 October 2002

There's quite a difference in the way fans support their clubs around Europe.

If you remember when Basel hosted Celtic, we had a large police presence and many a drunken Scot roaming around the city both before and after the game. Yesterday Basel hosted Spanish champions Valencia, and funnily enough we didn't see any Spaniards, sangria-ed up, sleeping in the roads, or singing loudly, anywhere in Basel! This isn't to say that the Valencia fans are any less fervent than your average Scottish fan; in St Jacob Park the Spaniards made a huge amount of noise, especially once they scored, but we'll come to that later.

I'd had horrendous problems trying to get tickets to any of the games, so with a wallet full of Swiss francs I decided to try and buy one from a tout on the night of the game. This proved quite easy, and I got a great seat in the packed St Jacob Park, though I was chf200 (80 quid) poorer after the transaction.

St Jacob Park changes for European games, becoming an all-seater stadium cramming in 29,500. During league games all the seats are removed from one end, which bumps up the capacity to around 36,500.

Earlier in the evening Liverpool had easily beaten Spartak in Moscow, so both FCB and Valencia knew exactly what they had to do if they were to proceed into the next stage of the competition.

The atmosphere was quite brilliant, and all the noise from both sets of fans became a crescendo as the game kicked off.

FCB seemed strangely muted and didn't seem to get into their stride during the first 30 minutes or so. Passes were going astray and moves breaking down. Valencia absolutely dominated, their passing and movement the best I'd seen.

The first goal was a cracker and seemed to come out of the blue for Basel.

Hakan Yakin, the goalscorer and hero in previous Champions League games - you may have seen him score Switzerland's first against Ireland last week - became the provider. Jinking and dribbling down the left side of midfield, he spotted Ivan Ergic in space just outside the area and managed to slot a square ball through to him. Ergic blasted the ball into the back of the net, giving the Valencia keeper no chance. One-nil to FCB, and apparently the 2,500th goal in Champions League football.

The Spaniards nearly equalised from the restart, Hakan's brother Murat Yakin heading a goalbound cross/shot over the bar in Valencia's very first attack.

Valencia managed to maintain pressure on the FCB defence until what seemed the inevitable happened a couple of minutes later. Baraja's speculative effort from 30 yards somehow went in despite Basel goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler managing to get a hand on it.

It was end-to-end stuff now, with both teams really going for it, but it was FCB who came closer when a shot from Antonio Esposito brushed past the post a couple of minutes before half time.

A half-time bratwurst and alcohol-free beer later and the second half kicked off. The fans of both teams were quite brilliant; it really is a great experience seeing how the other half lives, so to speak. The synchronised routines of the home fans had me gaping in awe at the organisation of the whole thing. At one point the whole of the home end stood up from the seats as one and gave a Tommy Cooper impression, hands stretched out in front of them, emitting a vocal wwhhheeeeeyyyyyy...just like that.

The second half proceeded just as the first ended: end-to-end play with both sides getting chances on goal.

It was Valencia who went ahead though, when around the 70-minute mark Torres chested down a great ball from De los Santos, beating the offside trap at the same time, and toe-poking the ball into the back of the net giving the Basel keeper no chance.

Valencia now defended deeply and FCB were facing their first home defeat. They managed a couple of half chances in the remaining 20 minutes, but the Spaniards knew how to defend as well as attack. A win for Valencia would see them five points clear at the top, guaranteed passage into the next round.

But with just two minutes to go, Valencia's Roberto Ayala was sent off after upending Hakan Yakin and recieving a second yellow card. Valencia just couldn't organise themselves in time, and Yakin's free kick was curled into the area and met by Ergic, who stroked the ball home for his second goal of the night to make it 2-2. Cue some quite amazing scenes from the home fans as they celebrated an unlikely draw.

Phew. It was a great game, and a great result for FC Basel. Depending on how they get on in the next game away against Spartak (surely an away win?), this result seems to set things up quite nicely for the final home game (and the last match of this group stage) against Liverpool.