On Monday, 11. December 2017, the draw for the last sixteen round of the UEFA Champions League 2017/2018 took place at UEFA´s HQ in Nyon (CH). FC Basel 1893 will face Manchester City FC, at St. Jakob Park on the 13. February 2018 and will play the return leg in Manchester on 7. March 2018.
Translated by Tom Snaith
Many years ago, on the 22. May 1935, FCB and Manchester City FC played a friendly match against each other. The fixture took place in Basel´s Landhof stadium, in front of 5000 spectators, where the home team lost 5:1. The only scorer for FCB was Hans Greiner.
Manchester City is the 12th English team FC Basel will face in European compotation. So far FCB have played Arsenal, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Middelborough, Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday und Tottenham Hotspur.
FCB-head coach Raphael Wicky made the following comments about his team´s draw against Man City: „We always wanted to be challenged by the best and now we will be facing one of the very best teams of the world. We are very much looking forward to our game against Manchester City, especially as we have nothing to lose and can continue to venture down the path we have chosen to take. In my opinion, Manchester City is currently the best team in the world, packed with many players with absolute individual quality. The team was made even stronger during the summer as they made a few top signings. Pep Guardiola is one of the world´s best coaches and his team has accepted and adapted to his philosophy. His team has won 14 Premier League games in a row, breaking records. I am looking forward to this fixture and approach the game with great positivity.”
FC Basel 1893´s sports director and former player Marco Streller´s view on the draw: „Manchester City is a great draw. We have not yet played against them and their coach Pep Guardiola is one of the best. The Citzens are currently one of strongest and most stable teams in the world- a top team and one of the favorites to win the Champions League. If I look at all the teams who have reached this stage of the competition, we would have been the underdog when drawn with any of these teams. Manchester City is one of the top 3 hardest teams to have been drawn with. It’s going to be hard work but we are very much looking forward to these two fixtures.”
FCB-President Bernhard Burgener is happy about the draw: „For me, playing Manchester City is a dream come true. I hoped for an English team and that’s what we got, one of the best teams in the world. The fixture against Pep Guardiola´s Team will be a massive challenge for FCB, and that´s what we are looking forward to. In my opinion this is the best draw we could have had; Manchester City are leading the top of the Premier League by 11 points- After facing Manchester United, this fixture is another level for us. It´s great to be able to welcome yet another such prestigious club to the city of Basel.”
The other fixtures:
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