The Friday evening game against Union not only provided a morale boost but also a few extra days to prepare for the crucial home match against Bern.
Even though this is still the newly introduced league phase of the Champions League, tonight already feels like a knockout game for VfB. Having only managed a win at Juventus so far and a 1–1 draw at home against Sparta, we desperately need another victory against Bern to ensure a spot among the top 24 teams in the Champions League by the end of January, which would qualify us for two additional matches in an intermediate round. While no one knows for sure how the standings will unfold, several simulations predict that 10 points will be needed — and VfB currently only has four. A win against the Swiss champions, who are currently struggling at the bottom of both their domestic league and the Champions League standings, is therefore essential.
Elimination wouldn’t be a catastrophe, but it would be disappointing not to have two more matches, especially if we fail to secure enough points against Bern and Bratislava. I don’t agree with the idea that an early exit would benefit VfB’s league campaign. Aside from the financial impact of participating, this is our first European Cup appearance in 11 years, and we’re supposed to want it to end as soon as possible? No way. We’ll still secure enough points in the league, even if we continue with midweek matches through February.
When I think of Bern, I think of snow. And relatively empty stands during the home game, with 15,000 spectators at the Neckarstadion in the 2010/2011 Europa League season. But mostly, snow. Snow piled meters high along the highway to Bern, so deep that some fans turned back because they left too late, and the entire country of Switzerland was so snowed in that even airports were closed. At the Wankdorf Stadium, a snowplow cleared the field every 20 minutes like in ice hockey, but that didn’t help us freezing in the stands or VfB, who lost 3–1 to the Young Boys. Let’s instead aim to repeat the result from the first leg back then, when Cacau, Tasci, and our current sporting director scored.
Personnel situation
The personnel situation has improved. Ameen Al-Dakhil appears to have finally recovered from his illness. However, Jeff Chabot has back problems, which do not seem to rule him out entirely. For Leweling and Undav, this game seems to come too soon, as it does for El Bilal and Zagadou.
Possible Starting XI
It’s unlikely that Hoeneß will immediately put Al-Dakhil in the starting lineup, even though he has trained with the team for a while and played for the national team. Chase has started the last three games in a row, and Rouault has not been particularly convincing lately. Similarly, Stergiou as a right-back with Vagnoman ahead of him hasn’t worked well. It would be better to have Rieder up front, who will hopefully find his form again against his former club. The rest of the lineup practically picks itself, given the importance of the match.
Statistics
As mentioned, this is the third meeting between VfB and the Berner Sport Club Young Boys. In 2011, both teams made it to the Europa League round of 32 — and both were eliminated there. VfB lost to Benfica, while Bern fell to St. Petersburg. The defeat at Wankdorf remains VfB’s only loss to a Swiss team; they have been unbeaten against FC Basel (UEFA Cup first round 1978/79), Grasshoppers Zurich (UEFA Cup round of 16 1979/80), and Xamax Neuchatel (UI Cup second round 2000/2001). Players like Fabian Rieder, Hakan Yakin, and Dieter Brenninger have played for both clubs, while Zdravko Kuzmanovic was part of YB’s youth setup and Suat Türker started his career at VfB before moving to Bern.
Currently, YB sits last in the Champions League group standings with zero points and a goal difference of 2:17 — with only Silvere Ganvoula and Kastriot Imeri scoring so far. In the Swiss Super League, the reigning champions — winners of six of the last seven titles — have started the season poorly but have slowly recovered and are now in 9th place. Ganvoula and Joel Monteiro have scored five goals each.
Conclusion
There’s no way around it: We must win tonight, and we need a significant improvement compared to the first half against Union or the game against Bremen. As mentioned earlier, I hope the Union match has re-energized the team, allowing them to perform more focused and rested tonight. The opponent should not be underestimated — but we can still have confidence in our team.
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