Young Boys has qualified for the round of 16 of the Europa League, and that’s the main thing to remember. The Bernese secured a miraculous but sufficient 2-1 victory against Cluj.
It had been five years since Young Boys had spent the winter in the skin of a European. The little curse is now a thing of the past, as by beating Cluj, the reigning triple Swiss champions are guaranteed to return in the spring.
With the hope that the adventure will last a while. But in view of the performance demonstrated Thursday, it is not Manchester United, Ajax Amsterdam or Arsenal who will fear the displacement of Wankdorf in February.
Bad joke
In other words, this meeting against the Romanians could very well have turned into a bad joke, one more with YB since the opponent is not a Super League team. In fact, the penalty scored by Jean-Pierre Nsame in the 93rd minute was something totally improbable, to put it mildly. Because the fist of the Romanian porter Cristian Balgradean may have brushed the skull of Cédric Zesiger, but that is not even certain. A fact of the match, but which offered qualification to the Bernese.
The latter, if they scored the 2-1 a little later by Gianluca Gaudino, are happy in this case. The Romanian goal, dropped in the 84th by Gabriel Debeljuh, had rewarded a more pressing Cluj team, more eager to turn the match to their advantage.
Most total chaos
This was before the meeting poured into total chaos, with three expulsions (the porter from Cluj therefore, followed by Nsame and the midfielder from Cluj Dokovic). All this is not really glorious for the best team in Switzerland.
Certainly, with Young Boys, we are not really in a position to be able to balk. It’s not as if the Bernese have accustomed Switzerland to particularly interesting European Cup courses. We can regret it, moreover, given their stranglehold on Swiss football in recent years. It’s just a matter of wishing this is a good season.
At least YB will be there in the spring, and that’s a satisfaction too because the UEFA Super League index needs it. Gerardo Seoane and his men carry our football on their shoulders, but this is not necessarily a rational explanation for the tension that seemed to be in them Thursday night. Even if, despite the absence of an audience, a decisive Europa League game has something inhibiting.
By Ballmoos decisive
It’s a way of justifying a complicated approach, with a Cluj team well-versed in the idea of coming to seek a qualification on the lawn of Wankdorf. The Romanians therefore sought to pack the match, to put the necessary energy into it, both on the pitch and in the encouragement from the bench. This had the merit of electrifying the atmosphere a little.
There were therefore several alerts on the cage of David von Ballmoos, and he responded twice in front of Mario Rondon at the end of the first period. But it was especially at the hour mark that the Bernese goalkeeper pulled out all the stops with a strike from Camora. He is one of the ‘heroes’ of the qualification. And that’s saying a lot about the overall performance of the best team in Switzerland.
/ ATS
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