2017–18 FC Basel season

The 2017–18 FC Basel season was the 125th season in club history and the club's 23rd consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football. Basel were the reigning Swiss Super League champions. The season started on the weekend of 22–23 July 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018.[1] They were also the Swiss Cup holders. The first round of the Swiss Cup was played on 13 August 2017. Basel were also qualified for this season's Champions League in the Group stage. The first round was played on 12 September 2017.

FC Basel

2017–18 season
Chairman	Bernhard Burgener
Manager	Raphaël Wicky
Ground	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
Super League	2nd
Swiss Cup	Semifinals
Champions League	Round of 16
Home colours Away colours

Club

Management

Raphaël Wicky was appointed as new first team manager and was given a two-year contract with an option for a third year. His assistant is Massimo Lombardo and further members of the training staff are Werner Leuthard and Marco Walker. Massimo Colomba is the Goalkeeper coach. Massimo Ceccaroni is head of the FCB Youth System.

Position	Staff
Manager	Raphaël Wicky
Assistant manager	Massimo Lombardo
Assistant manager & Fitness Coach	Marco Walker
Goalkeeper Coach	Massimo Colomba
Fitness Coach	Werner Leuthard
Team leader	Gustav Nussbaumer
Youth Team Coach	Arjan Peço
Youth Team Co-Coach	Toni Membrino
Youth Team Co-Coach	Michaël Bauch

Source: FCB Official Site

Further information

The FC Basel annual general meeting took place on 9 June 2017. The previous board of directors under president Bernhard Heusler with sportdirector Georg Heitz, vice-president Adrian Knup, financial manager Stephan Werthmüller and marketing manager René Kamm stepped back. Reto Baumgartner, Dominik Donzé and Benno Kaiser remained on the board. Bernhard Burgener took over as chairman and Marco Streller as sportdirector. [2] Peter von Büren was voted as financial manager and Patrick Jost in marketing.

Chairman	Bernhard Burgener
Vice Chairman
Finances	Peter von Büren
Sportdirector	Marco Streller
Marketing	Patrick Jost
Direktor	Reto Baumgartner
Direktor	Dominik Donzé
Direktor	Benno Kaiser
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	St. Jakob-Park (38,512[3] (37,500 for international matches)[4] / 120x80 m)

Updated to match played 10 June 2017
Source: FCB Official Site

Overview

Offseason and preseason

At the end of the 2016–17 FC Basel season Marc Janko left the club and joined Czech First League club Sparta Prague. Daniel Høegh also left the club and joined SC Heerenveen of the Dutch Eredivisie[5] On 23 June 2017 Basel announced that Jean-Paul Boëtius had been transferred to Dutch club Feyenoord.[6] Seydou Doumbia's loan came to an end and Basel neither wanted to prolong nor enter the option to buy him. Adama Traoré left the club mid-August because he no longer played a part in the teams planning.

In the other direction Basel were not too busy on the transfer market. On 14 June 2017 Basel announced that they had signed Ricky van Wolfswinkel from SBV Vitesse.[7] A few days later, on 20 June, the club announced that they had loaned Dimitri Oberlin from Red Bull Salzburg.[8]

First half of season

During the season, on 13 September 2017 Basel announced that they had recalled striker Cedric Itten from the loan to Luzern.[9] Then following the injury suffered by Ricky van Wolfswinkel Basel were forced to hire another striker and on 2 October 2017 they announced that Albian Ajeti had been signed a five-year contract.[10]

Mid-season break

During the winter mid-season break there was also quite some movements on the transfer market. On 23 December 2017 FC Basel announced that Fabian Frei would return to the club, signing a four and a half year contact dated up until June 2022.[11] On 27 December the club announced that Samuele Campo, a former Basel youth player, was also returning, signing a four and a half year contact dated up until June 2022.[12] Furthermore, on 10 January 2018 the club announced that another former Basel player Valentin Stocker was also returning. Stocker signed a three and a half year contact dated up until June 2021.[13]

In the other direction, also on 10 January, Basel announced that Renato Steffen had left the club.[14] Steffen signed a three and a half year deal with VfL Wolfsburg. The transfer fee was reported as being 1.75 million Euro.[15] Just a few days later Basel announced that Akanji had transferred to Borussia Dortmund.[16] The transfer fee was reported as being 21.5 million Euro. He signed a four and a half year contract dated until June 2022.[17]

The Campaign

Domestic League

The season started on the weekend of 22–23 July 2017. Basel's priority aim for the new season is to win the league championship for the ninth consecutive time. Their first game was the match against Young Boys in Stade de Suisse which ended in a 0–2 defeat. Following three victories Basel played four games without a win (two draws, two defeats) and slipped down to fourth position in the league table. Following this poor start the following game was at home against Zürich. The game was a passionate battle and the home club titled their report: A passionately fighting FCB wins against FCZ 1:0.[18] The game changed the run of the season and afterwards the team won seven and drawing three of the next ten games. The first game of the second half of the season was the last game of the kalender year and is included in these figures. By the mid-season break Basel had narrowed the gap to table leaders Young Boys to just two points, third placed Zürich were twelve points adrift.

After the winter break Basel could not find to their good form that they had before the break. They lost three of their first four games, at home against Lugano and St. Gallen and away against Luzern. The gap to leading Young Boys grew and was no longer reversible. The 5–1 win against Young Boys was achieved in the third last game of the season, but came after the championship had mathematically already been decided.

Domestic Cup

Basel are the Swiss Cup holders. Basel's clear aim for the cup is to defend their title. The first round of the Swiss Cup started on 13 August 2017. In the first three rounds Basel were drawn away against lower tier teams, winning against FC Wettswil-Bonstetten, FC Chiasso and FC Rapperswil-Jona. Basel were then drawn at home against Luzern in the quarter-final. This was won 2–1 and Basel advance to the semi-final in the Stade de Suisse against Young Boys on 27 February 2018.

Champions League

Basel entered into this season's Champions League in the Group stage. They were drawn into Group A along with Manchester United, Benfica and CSKA Moscow. Basels initial aim is to remain in a European competition after the Champions League group stage. The first match was the away game against Manchester United. Basel were previously drawn with both Benfica and United in 2011–12 and on this occasion, United finished third in the group and dropped down to the UEFA Europa League.

Manchester United (12 September 2017)

The first game was played in Old Trafford, in proper Manchester weather in Manchester. Basel were sitting deep, with their three centre-backs, as United took control of the game from the very start. Marouane Fellaini came off the bench after 19 minutes to replace the injured Paul Pogba and opened the scoring with a powerful header in the 35 minute, which was only part of his Man of the Match performance. Basel played better after the opening goal and even at the beginning of the second half created their chances. But it was also a particularly special night for Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford, both of whom found the net on their Champions League debuts with second-half strikes. United took a corner short, Daley Blind to Juan Mata and when Blind took the return he crossed for Lukaku who outjumped Balanta to power home. in the 85 minute Fellaini crossed, the ball was missed by Mkhitaryan and Suchý before Rashford, opening his body, sidefooted into the ground and high into the net.[19]

Benfica (27 September 2017)

Basel ran out 5–0 victors at St. Jakob-Park in Basel against Portuguese side Benfica on Wednesday 27 September in an emphatic and much-needed victory for the Swiss club in the Champions League. Basel controlled the game from the start, Michael Lang (2) and Dimitri Oberlin (20) gave Basel a two-goal lead in the first half. Oberlin showed his amazing speed as he scored this goal. He made a clearance from a Benfica corner before covering the length of the pitch in mere seconds. Impressively, the 20-year-old composed himself after the run upon receiving the pass from Renato Steffen before sending the ball past the goalkeeper Júlio César.[20] Ricky van Wolfswinkel then added a third in the second half (60) with a penalty, before birthday-boy Oberlin scored his second (69) and Blas Riveros's goal in the 76 minute completed the rout. Benfica were reduced to 10-men when André Almeida was sent off for foul play in the 63 minute.[21]

CSKA Moscow (18 October 2017)

Match three of the Group Stage took Basel to the away game in the VEB Arena against CSKA Moscow. The game started slowly, the teams getting to know each other, indeed both teams looked very cautious in the beginning. But Basel took control after about ten minutes. Taulant Xhaka missed his first chance, but in the 29 minute he scored his first European goal in his 47th European match. The Albanian international cruised through the CSKA defence and shot the ball into the back of the net, a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. There was little reaction from CSKA players after conceding. Quite the contrary – the visitors grew in confidence and took more control. At the end of an energetic first half, the visitors had the majority of the possession. The hosts matched the energy of the Swiss side, but had not been able to make more than one attempt on goal (off target). It was a deserved lead at half-time and Basel looked the more dangerous in the second half. Ten minutes into the second half the assistant referee canceled out Basel's second goal for offside, after referee Björn Kuipers initially pointed to the centre circle. The decision came about 40 seconds after the visitors started their celebrations. Towards the end of the game Basel made themselves good chances. Dimitri Oberlin missed the target on two occasions, until eventually in the 90 minute he didn't miss. The Switzerland U21 international made his run from the halfway line and finished with composure, slotting it calmly in the corner of goal.[22]

Players

First team squad

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad. It also includes players that were in the squad the day the season started on 22 July 2017 but subsequently left the club after that date.

As of 2 October 2017[23]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CZE Tomáš Vaclík 3 DF  CIV Adama Traoré 4 DF  EGY Omar Gaber 5 DF   SUI Michael Lang (Vice-Captain) 6 MF   SUI Fabian Frei 7 MF   SUI Luca Zuffi 9 FW  NED Ricky van Wolfswinkel 10 MF   SUI Samuele Campo 11 MF   SUI Renato Steffen 13 GK   SUI Mirko Salvi 14 GK   SUI Valentin Stocker 15 MF  SWE Alexander Fransson 17 DF  CZE Marek Suchý (Captain) 18 GK   SUI Germano Vailati 19 FW   SUI Dimitri Oberlin 20 MF  CIV Serey Dié

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF   SUI Albian Ajeti 23 DF  COL Éder Álvarez Balanta 24 MF  NOR Mohamed Elyounoussi 25 DF  PAR Blás Riveros 27 FW   SUI Neftali Manzambi 28 DF  ITA Raoul Petretta 30 MF   SUI Cedric Itten 31 MF   SUI Dominik Robin Schmid 33 MF   SUI Kevin Bua 34 MF  ALB Taulant Xhaka (Vice-Captain) 35 DF  POR Pedro Pacheco 36 DF   SUI Manuel Akanji 37 FW  FRA Afimico Pululu 39 MF   SUI Davide Callà - MF  ARG Matías Delgado - GK  SRB Đorđe Nikolić - MF   SUI Dereck Kutesa

In on loan

19

FW

SUI

Dimitri Oberlin (on loan from Red Bull Salzburg until 30 June 2018)[8]

Out on loan

22	MF	SRB	Zdravko Kuzmanović (on loan at Málaga until 30 June 2018)[24]
–	DF	SUI	Eray Cümart (on loan at Sion 30 June 2018)[25]
20	MF	SUI	Dereck Kutesa (on loan to Luzern from 14 September until 30 June 2018)[26]
30	MF	SUI	Cedric Itten (on loan at Luzern (ended early, on 13 September 2017))[27][9]
-	FW	SVN	Andraž Šporar (on loan to Arminia Bielefeld until 30 June 2018)[28]
–	MF	SUI	Robin Huser (on loan at FC Winterthur until 30 June 2018)[29]
–	GK	SRB	Đorđe Nikolić (on loan to Schaffhausen until 30 June 2018)[30]

In

9	FW	NED	Ricky van Wolfswinkel (from SBV Vitesse)[7]
13	GK	SUI	Mirko Salvi (return from Lugano end of loan)

Out

--	MF	SRB	Veljko Simić (released)[31]
--	FW	SUI	Nicolas Hunziker (to Thun)[32]
3	DF	CIV	Adama Traoré (to Göztepe S.K.)[33]
10	MF	ARG	Matías Delgado (retired)[34]
21	FW	AUT	Marc Janko (to Sparta Prague)[35]
26	DF	DEN	Daniel Høegh (to SC Heerenveen)[36]
77	FW	NED	Jean-Paul Boëtius (to Feyenoord)[6]
88	FW	CIV	Seydou Doumbia (end of loan)[37]

In

3	DF	SUI	Léo Lacroix (from AS Saint-Étienne on loan)
6	MF	SUI	Fabian Frei (from Mainz 05)
10	MF	SUI	Samuele Campo (from Lausanne-Sport)
14	MF	SUI	Valentin Stocker (from Hertha BSC)

Out

11	MF	SUI	Renato Steffen (to VfL Wolfsburg)
36	DF	SUI	Manuel Akanji (to Borussia Dortmund)

Results and fixtures

Kickoff times are in CET

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Pre- and mid-season

30 June 2017 Pre-season	Basel	4–1	Rosenheim	Sportplatz Birkenmoos, Rottach-Egern
18:30	Dominik Robin Schmid  18' Steffen  57' van Wolfswinkel  59', 89'	Report	55' Valentin Hauswirth	Attendance: 120 Referee: Matthias Zacher

5 July 2017 Pre-season	Basel	0–0	Wil	Youth-Campus, Basel
17:00		Report		Attendance: 700 Referee: Fedayi San

8 July 2017 Pre-season	Basel	2–0	Xamax	Youth-Campus, Basel
11:00	Delgado  29' Kutesa  37' Bua  73'	Report	25' Di Nardo	Attendance: 900 Referee: Adrien Jaccotet

12 July 2017 Pre-season	Basel	3–2	Athletic Club Bilbao	Stade du Christ-Roi, Lens, Switzerland
19:00

15 July 2017 Pre-season	Basel	3–2	Sporting	Stade des Grèves, Delley-Portalban
19:00	Delgado  37'  34' (pen.) Steffen  43' Bua  79'	Report	28' (pen.) Dost  39' Ruiz  77' Pereira	Attendance: 3500 Referee: Alain Bieri (Solothurn)

30 August 2017 Mid-season	Basel	6–1	Wohlen	Youth-Campus, Basel
11:00	van Wolfswinkel  3', 36' Steffen  13', 43' Zuffi  41' Pululu  56' Adamczyk  64'	Report	16' Marko Bicvic  51' Sadrijaj	Attendance: 350 Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (Basel)

4 October 2017 Mid-season	Basel	1–2	Schaffhausen	Youth-Campus, Basel
11:00	Okafor  4'	FCB Report	14' Dangubic  27' Tranquilli	Attendance: 300 Referee: Tomas Superczynsk

Winter break

14 January 2018 Test	Basel	1–1	Tianjin Quanjian	Marbella Football Center, San Pedro de Alcántara
16:00	Okafor  31'	Report	44' Zheng Dalun	Attendance: 200 Referee: Jose Maria Aranda Delgado

17 January 2018 Test	Basel	1–2	Viktoria Plzeň	Marbella Football Center, San Pedro de Alcántara
16:00	Bua  17'	Report	49' (pen.) Bakoš  56' Čermák	Attendance: 50 Referee: Juan Gabriel Gallegos Gimenez

20 January 2018 Test	Basel	2–4	SK Sturm Graz	Marbella Football Center, San Pedro de Alcántara
16:00	Elyounoussi  43', 45'	Report	5' Koch  30' Alar  41' Huspek  56' Lovrić	Attendance: 60 Referee: Sergio Gutierez Perez

24 January 2018 Test	Basel	1–0	Winterthur	Youth-Campus, Basel
11:00	van Wolfswinkel  55'	Report		Attendance: 300 Referee: Lukas Fähndrich

27 January 2018 Test	Basel	1–0	Luzern	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
13:30	Al. Ajeti  62'	Report		Attendance: 3,290 Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (Basel)

First half of season

22 July 2017 Round 1	Young Boys	2–0	Basel	Stade de Suisse, Bern
19:00	Hoarau  16' Nuhu  53' Ravet  58' Sanago  79' Sulejmani  80'	Report	4' Delgado  32' Elyounoussi  45' Suchý  69' Lang  79' Balanta  90+2' Steffen	Attendance: 31,500 (sold out) Referee: Stephan Klossner

30 July 2017 Round 2	Basel	3–1	Luzern	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Elyounoussi  14' Bua  22'  33' Akanji van Wolfswinkel  79'	Report	33' Kryeziu  50' Custodio  54' (o.g.) Elyounoussi  68' Juric	Attendance: 27,416 Referee: Fedayi San

5 August 2017 Round 3	Thun	0–3	Basel	Stockhorn Arena, Thun
19:00	Bürgy  66'	Report	3' van Wolfswinkel  29' Bua  71' Steffen  88' Vaclík  90+6' Oberlin	Attendance: 7,227 Referee: Alain Bieri

10 August 2017 Round 4	Basel	3–2	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:00	Vilotić  29' (o.g.) van Wolfswinkel  43', 60' (pen.) Balanta  84'	Report	59' Zesiger  70' Andersen  77'  75' Vilotić	Attendance: 26,317 Referee: Nikolaj Hänni (Gams SG)

20 August 2017 Round 5	Basel	1–1	Lugano	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	van Wolfswinkel  62' (pen.)	Report	62' Piccinocchi  86' Antonio de Sousa  89' Mihajlović	Attendance: 26,994 Referee: Adrien Jaccottet

27 August 2017 Round 6	Sion	1–1	Basel	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
16:00	Zock  19' Matheus Cunha  47' Schneuwly  89'	Report	7' van Wolfswinkel  21' Steffen  28' Suchý  34' Xhaka	Attendance: 10,900 Referee: Alain Bieri (Solothurn)

9 September 2017 Round 7	Basel	1–2	Lausanne-Sport	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	Wolfswinkel  30' (pen.) Suchy  53'  53' Steffen  72'	FCB Report	Maniere  29' Getaz  32'  71' Kololli  55' Geissmann  80' Maccoppi  85' Monteiro  91' Castella  93'	Attendance: 23,686 Referee: Pascal Erlachner

20 September 2017 Round 8	St. Gallen	2–1	Basel	Kybunpark, St. Gallen
19:00	Aratore  15' Aleksić  45'  25' Lüchinger  52' Hefti  55' Wiss  81'	FCB Report	31' Xhaka  89' Oberlin  89' Zuffi	Attendance: 12,214 Referee: Stephan Klossner

23 September 2017 Round 9	Basel	1–0	Zürich	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	Oberlin  62' Zuffi  71' Lang  80' Xhaka  90+1'	FCB report	41' Sarr	Attendance: 29,584 Referee: Sandro Schärer Buttikon

30 September 2017 Round 10	Grasshopper Club	0–0	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
19:00	Bergström 9'	FCB report	33' Xhaka  63' Akanji	Attendance: 10,300 Referee: Alain Bieri (Solothurn)

14 October 2017 Round 11	Lugano	0–4	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
19:00	Mariani  33' Amuzie  85'		19' Petretta  39' Al. Ajeti  74' Elyounoussi  86' Itten	Attendance: 3,627 Referee: Pascal Erlachner

21 October 2017 Round 12	Basel	2–1	Thun	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	Zuffi  36' Al. Ajeti  62' Suchý  67'	FCB report	26' Hediger  68' (pen.) Costanzo  70' Kablan  77' Tosetti	Attendance: 24,559 Referee: Fedayi San (Gebenstorf)

28 October 2017 Round 13	Zürich	0–0	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
19:00	Jagne  8' Brunner  41' Pálsson  61' Bangura  82'	FCB report Report	Suchý  3' Xhaka  31' Oberlin  53'	Attendance: 15,023 Referee: Stephan Klossner

5 November 2017 Round 14	Basel	1–1	Young Boys	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Dié  54'  57' Callà  78'	FCB report Report	Benito  40' Nuhu  59' Aebischer  65' Nsamé  80'	Attendance: 32,456 Referee: Sandro Schärer

18 November 2017 Round 15	Basel	5–1	Sion	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	Lang  56' Elyounoussi  57' Steffen  72' (pen.) Bua  76' (pen.), 90+2'	FCB Report	3' Schneuwly  14' Uçan  21'  53'  71' Bamert  74' Mitryushkin  78' Kasami	Attendance: 24,212 Referee: Alain Bieri (Solothurn)

25 November 2017 Round 16	Luzern	1–4	Basel	Swissporarena, Luzern
19:00	Shkelqim Demhasaj  19' Grether  52' Ziegler  56' Kryeziu  86'	FCB report	30', 90+2' Lang  50' Xhaka  69' Oberlin  81' Itten	Attendance: 10,109 Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (Basel)

2 December 2017 Round 17	Lausanne-Sport	1–4	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
19:00	Maccoppi  55' Zeqiri  79'	FCB report	7' Elyounoussi  39' Al. Ajeti  63' Lang  66' Steffen	Attendance: 3,956 Referee: Urs Schnyder

9 December 2017 Round 18	Basel	3–0	St. Gallen	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	Al. Ajeti  20', 65' Steffen  62' Akanji  72'	FCB report	28' Wiss  67' Aratore	Attendance: 24,812 Referee: Fedayi San (Gebenstorf)

Second half of season

17 December 2017 Round 19	Grasshopper Club	0–2	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
16:00	Qollaku  79' Vilotić  88'	FCB report	25' Elyounoussi  59'  79' Steffen	Attendance: 7,800 Referee: Stephan Klossner

4 February 2018 Round 20	Basel	0–1	Lugano	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Elyounoussi 27' Suchý  45' Xhaka  60'	Report	6' Gerndt  24' Rouiller  60' Črnigoj	Attendance: 23,841 Referee: Sandro Schärer Buttikon

10 February 2018 Round 21	Thun	0–2	Basel	Stockhorn Arena, Thun
19:00	Righetti  32' Glarner  90+4'	Report	42' Oberlin  59' Petretta  90'  88' Bua	Attendance: 5,607 Referee: Lukas Fähndrich

17 February 2018 Round 22	Basel	0–2	St. Gallen	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	van Wolfswinkel 24' Serey Die  26' Suchý  57' Xhaka  90+1'	Report	23' Hefti  52' Barnetta  53', 86' Itten	Attendance: 22,988 Referee: Jérôme Brisard

24 February 2018 Round 23	Lausanne-Sport	PP	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
19:00				Referee: Urs Schnyder

3 March 2018 Round 24	Basel	PP	Zürich	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00				Referee: Nikolaj Hänni

11 March 2018 Round 25	Luzern	1–0	Basel	Swissporarena, Luzern
16:00	Knezevic  36' Gvilia  46' Kryeziu 74'	Report	21' Bua  32' Riveros  57' Suchý  92' Al. Ajeti  93' Oberlin	Attendance: 11,749 Referee: Fedayi San (Gebenstorf)

14 March 2018 Round 23	Lausanne-Sport	1–1	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
18:45	Schmid  16' Monteiro  76' Enzo  84' Rapp 89'	Report	40' Oberlin  60' Lang  88' Stocker  89' Serey Die	Attendance: 3,159 Referee: Pascal Erlachner

18 March 2018 Round 26	Basel	1–0	Sion	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Al. Ajeti  46'  69' Lacroix  87'	Report	79' Cunha	Attendance: 24,717 Referee: Urs Schnyder

2 April 2018 Round 27	Young Boys	2–2	Basel	Stade de Suisse, Bern
16:00	Hoarau  24' Nuhu  40' Fassnacht  56'	Report	36' Stocker  39' Xhaka  47' Suchý  50' Zuffi  59' Elyounoussi	Attendance: 31,120 (sold out) Referee: Frank Schneider (Strassburg)

7 April 2018 Round 28	Lugano	0–1	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
16:00	Rouiller  45'	Report	18' Elyounoussi  26' Suchý  86' Xhaka  90' Stocker	Attendance: 4,746 Referee: Lionel Tschudi (Neuchâtel)

11 April 2018 Round 24	Basel	3–0	Zürich	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
18:45	Riveros  16' Xhaka  66' F. Frei  69' Stocker  71' Campo  79' van Wolfswinkel  84' Petretta  90+2'	FCB Report	61' Nef  73' Schättin	Attendance: 27,137 Referee: Stephan Klossner

15 April 2018 Round 29	Basel	2–1	Lausanne-Sport	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Bua  11'  60' Al. Ajeti  90+2'	FCB Report	24' Loosli  55'  82' Gétaz  63' Margiotta  90' Castella	Attendance: 23,649 Referee: Lukas Fähndrich

18 April 2018 Round 30	Basel	1–0	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:00	Stocker  43' Bua  58' Elyounoussi  75' Manzambi  83'	FCB Report	28' Bergström  45' Doumbia	Attendance: 23,487 Referee: Pascal Erlachner

22 April 2018 Round 31	Sion	2–2	Basel	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
16:00	Carlitos  42' (pen.) Kasami  44' Cunha  47'	FCB Report	11', 52' van Wolfswinkel  18' Campo  60' Lacroix  63' Lang  78' F. Frei	Attendance: 12,800 Referee: Stephan Klossner

29 April 2018 Round 32	Basel	6–1	Thun	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Stocker  7' Campo  13' Manzambi  47' van Wolfswinkel  49'  57' Al. Ajeti  75', 86'	FCB Report	40' Sorgić  58' Gelmi	Attendance: 25,229 Referee: Sandro Schärer (Buttikon)

6 May 2018 Round 33	St. Gallen	2–4	Basel	Kybunpark, St. Gallen
16:00	Buess  8' Sigurjónsson  61' Wittwer  74' Toko  76'	FCB Repot	30' Serey Die  43', 58'  65' Elyounoussi  70' Campo  87' Al. Ajeti	Attendance: 15,594 Referee: Fedayi San (Gebenstorf)

10 May 2018 Round 34	Basel	5–1	Young Boys	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
16:00	Elyounoussi  2' Ajeti  26' Stocker  31' Zuffi  54' Ajeti  79' Oberlin  87'	Summary	78' Benito  84' Nsame  89' Fassnacht	Attendance: 29,121 Referee: Urs Schnyder

13 May 2018 Round 35	Zürich	4–1	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
16:00	Brunner  44' Dwamena  49' Pa Modou  62' Frey Marchesano  90+1'	Summary	45' Balanta  90+3' Al. Ajeti	Attendance: 11,135 Referee: Nikolaj Hänni (Gams SG)

19 May 2018 Round 36	Basel	2–2	Luzern	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:00	Elyounoussi  17' Frei  27' Al. Ajeti  82'	Summary	9' Schulz  85' Schürpf	Attendance: 25,161 Referee: Fedayi San (Gebenstorf)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Young Boys (C)	36	26	6	4	84	41	+43	84	Qualification for the Champions League play-off round
2	Basel	36	20	9	7	72	36	+36	69	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Luzern	36	15	9	12	51	51	0	54	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
4	Zürich	36	12	13	11	50	44	+6	49	Qualification for the Europa League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
5	St. Gallen	36	14	3	19	52	72	−20	45	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round

Source: Swiss Super League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Draw.[38]
(C) Champion.
Notes:

1. Zürich qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2017–18 Swiss Cup.

Swiss Cup

The draw for the first round was held on 28 June 2017. The Super- and Challenge League clubs were seeded and could not be drawn against each other. The lower division teams were granted home advantage and Basel were therefore drawn away. The home advantage was also granted to the team from the lower league in the second and third rounds.

13 August 2017 Round 1	FC Wettswil-Bonstetten	0–2	Basel	Sportanlage Moos, Wettswil am Albis
14:30	Studer  61' Schneebeli  83'	FCB report SFV summary	37' Callà  38' Xhaka  86' Zuffi	Attendance: 4,257 (sold out) Stadium record Referee: Sandro Schärer Buttikon

17 September 2017 Round 2	Chiasso	0–1	Basel	Stadio Comunale (Chiasso)
16:00	Jetmir Krasniqi  25' Eris Abedini  30' Said  49' Simone Belometti  49'	FCB report	20' Suchý  82' Itten	Attendance: 1,470 Referee: Nikolaj Hänni (Gams SG)

25 October 2017 Round 3	Rapperswil-Jona	1–2	Basel	Stadion Grünfeld, Rapperswil
20:00	da Silva  32' Berkay Sülüngöz  34' Dominik Schwizer  53'	FCB report	32' Al. Ajeti  59' Oberlin	Attendance: 3,904 Referee: Sandro Schärer Buttikon

29 November 2017 Quarter-final	Basel	2–1	FC Luzern	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:30	Lang  13', 52' Elyounoussi  41'	FCB report Report	22' Schürpf  41' Silvan Sidler  60' Voca  77' Schulz	Attendance: 7,715 Referee: Sandro Schärer Buttikon

27 February 2018 Semi-final	Young Boys	2–0	Basel	Stade de Suisse, Bern
20:15	Hoarau  55' (pen.) Suchý  65' (o.g.)	FCB Report Report		Attendance: 23,519 Referee: Stephan Klossner

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Basel were qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League in the Group stage. The draw was held on 24 August 2017, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Basel were drawn into Group A along with Manchester United, Benfica and CSKA Moscow. The first match was the away game against Manchester United.

Matches

12 September 2017 Round 1	Manchester United	3–0	Basel	Old Trafford, Manchester
20:45	Fellaini  35' Young  38' Lukaku  53' Blind  58' Rashford  84'	Report	Balanta  28' Lang  61' Xhaka  82'	Attendance: 73,854 Referee: Ruddy Buquet

27 September 2017 Round 2	Basel	5–0	Benfica	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:45	Lang  2' Oberlin  20', 69' Akanji  45+1' Petretta  50' Xhaka  59' Van Wolfswinkel  60' (pen.) Riveros  76'	UEFA report FCB report	55' Živković  59' Salvio  63' André Almeida	Attendance: 34,111 Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)

18 October 2017 Round 3	CSKA Moscow	0–2	Basel	VEB Arena, Moscow
20:45	Natkho  70'	UEFA report FCB Report	29' T. Xhaka  90+3' D. Oberlin	Attendance: 27,996 Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)

31 October 2017 Round 4	Basel	1–2	CSKA Moscow	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:45	Zuffi  32' Xhaka  60' Balanta  74'	UEFA report FCB Report	49' Natkho  65' Dzagoev  79' Wernbloom  84' Fernandes	Attendance: 33,033 Referee: Milorad Mažić (Serbia)

22 November 2017 Round 5	Basel	1–0	Manchester United	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:45	Lang  89'	FCB report UEFA report	83' Darmian	Attendance: 36,000 (sold out) Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)

5 December 2017 Round 6	Benfica	0–2	Basel	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
20:45	Samaris  68'	FCB report UEFA report	5' Elyounoussi  9' Xhaka  63' Akanji  65' Oberlin  75' Petretta	Attendance: 22,470 Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Group table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Manchester United	6	5	0	1	12	3	+9	15	Advance to knockout phase
2	Basel	6	4	0	2	11	5	+6	12
3	CSKA Moscow	6	3	0	3	8	10	−2	9	Transfer to Europa League
4	Benfica	6	0	0	6	1	14	−13	0

Source: UEFA

Knockout phase

Round of 16

13 February 2018 First leg	Basel	0–4	Manchester City	Basel, Switzerland
20:45 CET	Xhaka  38' Serey Die  89'	UEFA report FCB report	14', 53'  89' Gündoğan  18' B. Silva  23' Agüero  59' Fernandinho	Stadium: St. Jakob-Park Attendance: 36,000[39] Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

7 March 2018 Second leg	Manchester City	1–2 (5–2 agg.)	Basel	Manchester, England
20:45 CET	Jesus  77'  8'	UEFA Report FCB Report	17' Elyounoussi  44' Lacroix  71' Lang	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 49,411 Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

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