Liverpool Echo :
Wednesday night’s clash will see Rodgers come face-to-face with the man he succeeded as manager of Swansea City back in 2010. The former Portuguese star Paulo Sousa, a Champions League winner with both Juventus and Borussia Dortmund as a player, is the Basel boss.
His side head into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw at home to FC Thun on Saturday, and knowing a positive result is vital after their 5-1 shelling at Real on Matchday One. They are, as has been the way for much of the past 10 years, sitting pretty in the Swiss league, top of the table with seven wins from their opening 10 matches.
Having won the title in each of the last five seasons, and six of the last seven, they are well on their way to strengthening their grip this term as well, although both FC Zurich and Young Boys BSC will look to challenge their supremacy.
As is often the case at Basel, they have been forced to rebuild after seeing several of their better players whisked away to bigger European clubs, usually German, over the summer. In the past it was Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, this year it was goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who joined Borussia Moenchengladbach, and midfielder Valentin Stocker, who went to Hertha Berlin. Their departures followed that of Mohamed Salah, courted by Liverpool but signed by Chelsea back in January.
Sommer and Stocker were key components of the side which, under former player Murat Yakin, reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season, and which won home and away against Chelsea in the Champions League group stages earlier in the campaign.
Indeed Yakin, who played centre-back in the two games with Liverpool back in 2002, will reflect on what might have been in Europe last season. Had they drawn with Schalke in their final Champions League group match, they would have progressed to the last 16 at the German side’s expense (they lost 2-0) and had they held on to a 3-0 first-leg lead against Valencia in the Europa League quarters, they would have met eventual winners Sevilla in the last four. Instead, they lost the second leg 5-0 in Spain. Soon after, and despite the obligatory league title, Yakin lost his job.
The previous season, Basel had lost to Chelsea at the semi-final stage, after seeing off Tottenham in the previous round, and in 2011 they knocked Manchester United in the Champions League group phase after a 2-1 win. Their recent European pedigree is stronger than plenty of clubs, as evidenced by the fact they, and not Liverpool, are seeded second in this group.
Accordingly, Sousa knows that, after a nightmare start, his side will be judged on their Champions League performance. He has strengthened with the signings of Walter Samuel, a winner with Inter in 2010, and Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, while centre-back Fabian Schar looks like being the next player to be sold on for profit.
Veteran skipper Marco Streller, in his second spell at the club, leads their attack, supported by Derlis Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Paraguayan prospect, and the Argentine Matias Delgado.
Philipp Degen, meanwhile, spent three years as a Liverpool player between 2008 and 2011, though his time at Anfield is perhaps most memorable for the ear-bashing he received from Jamie Carragher in a game against Tottenham, which was heard by the entire Main Stand. Degen, now 31, is unlikely to feature against his former club.
Liverpool, though, know Basel will command their full attention on Wednesday night. It may not be the Bernabeu, but it’s no less important.
Wednesday night’s clash will see Rodgers come face-to-face with the man he succeeded as manager of Swansea City back in 2010. The former Portuguese star Paulo Sousa, a Champions League winner with both Juventus and Borussia Dortmund as a player, is the Basel boss.
His side head into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw at home to FC Thun on Saturday, and knowing a positive result is vital after their 5-1 shelling at Real on Matchday One. They are, as has been the way for much of the past 10 years, sitting pretty in the Swiss league, top of the table with seven wins from their opening 10 matches.
Having won the title in each of the last five seasons, and six of the last seven, they are well on their way to strengthening their grip this term as well, although both FC Zurich and Young Boys BSC will look to challenge their supremacy.
As is often the case at Basel, they have been forced to rebuild after seeing several of their better players whisked away to bigger European clubs, usually German, over the summer. In the past it was Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, this year it was goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who joined Borussia Moenchengladbach, and midfielder Valentin Stocker, who went to Hertha Berlin. Their departures followed that of Mohamed Salah, courted by Liverpool but signed by Chelsea back in January.
Sommer and Stocker were key components of the side which, under former player Murat Yakin, reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season, and which won home and away against Chelsea in the Champions League group stages earlier in the campaign.
Indeed Yakin, who played centre-back in the two games with Liverpool back in 2002, will reflect on what might have been in Europe last season. Had they drawn with Schalke in their final Champions League group match, they would have progressed to the last 16 at the German side’s expense (they lost 2-0) and had they held on to a 3-0 first-leg lead against Valencia in the Europa League quarters, they would have met eventual winners Sevilla in the last four. Instead, they lost the second leg 5-0 in Spain. Soon after, and despite the obligatory league title, Yakin lost his job.
The previous season, Basel had lost to Chelsea at the semi-final stage, after seeing off Tottenham in the previous round, and in 2011 they knocked Manchester United in the Champions League group phase after a 2-1 win. Their recent European pedigree is stronger than plenty of clubs, as evidenced by the fact they, and not Liverpool, are seeded second in this group.
Accordingly, Sousa knows that, after a nightmare start, his side will be judged on their Champions League performance. He has strengthened with the signings of Walter Samuel, a winner with Inter in 2010, and Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, while centre-back Fabian Schar looks like being the next player to be sold on for profit.
Veteran skipper Marco Streller, in his second spell at the club, leads their attack, supported by Derlis Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Paraguayan prospect, and the Argentine Matias Delgado.
Philipp Degen, meanwhile, spent three years as a Liverpool player between 2008 and 2011, though his time at Anfield is perhaps most memorable for the ear-bashing he received from Jamie Carragher in a game against Tottenham, which was heard by the entire Main Stand. Degen, now 31, is unlikely to feature against his former club.
Liverpool, though, know Basel will command their full attention on Wednesday night. It may not be the Bernabeu, but it’s no less important.
