The disappointment on Monday was great, Fabio Celestini reported on Friday during the preview meeting with a view to Sunday’s game at Young Boys. The previous week, Rotblau was eliminated against FC Lugano in the cup quarter-finals and, with a defeat in the home game against FC Lausanne-Sport, missed the opportunity to overtake the Vaudois team and thus create space for Barrageplatz. That and qualifying for the cup semi-finals were declared goals. But he then reminded his team that next weekend there will be another chance to collect points and do better.
But the task is a difficult one: FCB is visiting the champions and leaders from Bern, who they have not beaten in their stadium for over 8 years. “We recently broke a series against YB at home, now we want to do the same away from home,” replied Celestini when asked about these statistics. However, the FCB coach does not see the fact that it is not all sunshine and roses for the opponent, despite being in the lead in the table, as an absolute advantage. Surely after two championship defeats in a row and the cup exit at FC Sion, the Bernese seem vulnerable, but the fact that an interim coach, Joël Magnin, is making his debut on Sunday doesn’t make things any easier.
Training on Saturday on artificial turf
“It’s more difficult to guess what style of play our opponent will play,” said Celestini, who didn’t want to go too much into the hosts’ style of play: “We have to be proactive and force the momentum on our side. If you play the waiting game and aren’t confident, you won’t succeed.” In the training sessions he tried to give input in this direction. Those took place on natural grass during the week, although they played on plastic on Sunday. On the one hand, every artificial turf is different from another and on the other hand, he doesn’t want to run any increased risk of injuries, explained Celestini. With the injured Albian Ajeti, Arnau Comas, Yusuf Demir, Emmanuel Essiam, Andrin Hunziker and Sergio López as well as the suspended Anton Kade, seven players are already certain to be out, Djordje Jovanovic and Finn van Breemen are questionable.
As I said, both YB and FCB have had a disappointing week. Who will be able to respond to this will be seen on Sunday. Despite leading the table, the pressure on the home team is likely to be a little greater due to expectations. There is still the same amount to lose and win for both – namely three points. And if successful, perhaps a more satisfying start to the coming week than before.
2024-03-08 15:06:11
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