Bloodied noses have been given to them with abandon in the Champions League by Basel, a side capable of regularly making light of the financial disparity at play when the English are in town.
Manchester City are the latest moneyed opponents to head to Switzerland for Tuesday’s round-of-16 opener. Are the omens still so negative, or have this bogey side lost their lustre?
Manchester United were beaten 1-0 to little ill effect earlier this season, although the ramifications for 2011/12’s 2-1 reversal were more severe. They failed to advance past the groups for just the third time in 17 years and lost inspirational captain Nemanja Vidic to a serious knee injury he would never truly recover from.
A certain Mohamed Salah helped down Chelsea in November 2013. His – other – future employers Liverpool stuttered to a damaging 1-0 loss in October 2014 and played out a memorable 3-3 draw all the way back in November 2002.
All results to make manager Pep Guardiola take notice, despite the protective shield provided by a runaway 16-point lead in the Premier League and the European elite’s best away-win ratio of 80 per cent.
But this is not a vintage Basel. Not by a long stretch.
Emerging Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji was sold to Borussia Dortmund in January. No defenders were bought as replacements.
📸 vom heutigen Abschluss-Training!#UCL #FCBasel1893 #zämmestark pic.twitter.com/I3b3h44kU5
— FC Basel 1893 (@FCBasel1893) February 12, 2018
Instead, the clock was turned back for old boys such as Fabian Frei and Valentin Stocker – a duo last seen making little impression in the Bundesliga. A sign of desperation?
The eight-time successive Swiss Super League holders sit five points off the pace this time, trailing in Young Boys’ wake. Lugano stormed their St Jakob-Park fortress when the long winter break ended earlier this month.
The walls have also been crumbling in Europe. They have won just three of their last ten home matches, with four losses in that run.
Even if City’s superstars – somehow – come unstuck, home wins against Porto and Bayern Munich in Basel’s previous round-of-16 forays were followed by away losses to a combined score of 11-0.
Guardiola can sleep easy.
