On Monday, 4. December 2015, the UEFA Europa League round of 32 was drawn in Nyon. As winners of group I, FC Basel is one of 16 seeded teams. FCB will face AS Saint-Étienne in the next round. The 1st leg fixture will take place in France, on Thursday, 18. February, 2016 (7pm) and the return leg will take place a week later be at St. Jakob-Park (9.05pm). FC Sion, the other Swiss contender, face Portuguese team SC Braga.
(Translated by Thomas Snaith)
AS Saint-Étienne is a French club with great tradition. The side which plays in green and white belong to capital of the “Département Loire”, are record title holders with 10 league titles and were in the final of the “Cup Winners Cup” in 1975/76. The French side lost the final against FC Bayern Munich (1:0), a strong team consisting of World Cup and European Cup winners.
In recent years the green and white side where not able to relive the success of past. Saint-Étienne did win the French League cup in 2013, but they have been waiting for a league title since 1981. The last time the team from the Loire valley won the Coupe de France was 1977. In total, the French side won the cup 6 times.
Last season, Saint-Étienne finished 5th in Lique 1. In the UEFA Europa League qualification round, the French side beat Romanian side ASA Targu Mures as well as FC Milsami from Moldova.
Urs Fischer made the following comments about his next European opponent: “Saint-Étienne is a team with a big history. I am not yet too familiar with the current team. I am aware that Swiss international, Gelson Fernandes used to play for them a few years ago. Saint-Étienne did an impressive job, competing in a group with Lazio Rom, Rosenborg Trondheim and last year´s finalists Dnipro Dnipropetrowsk. In the round of 32 stage of the competition there are no easy opponents, however we hope to qualify for the next round.”
Apart from Gelson Fernandes, Swiss Internationals Alain Geiger and Christophe Ohrel played for Saint-Étienne. Ex-FC Basel players Nestor Subiat und Antonio Esposito both played for the French team as well.
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