streller sees basel stock rising before benfica's eyes
marco streller believes sl benfica will arrive at st. jakob-park with "lots of respect" for his fc basel 1893 side after their 3-3 draw at manchester united fc last month.
marco streller believes that fc basel 1893's 3-3 draw at manchester united fc last month has sent such shockwaves through european football that his side will be taken more seriously from now on, with sl benfica their uefa champions league visitors on tuesday.
"we have shown that we can compete with the best and we will look to do the same against benfica," said the basel captain. "the coach has prepared us well and i can't wait for it to get started."
however, the 30-year-old has stopped short of suggesting his side, who lead group c with four points, are now favourites to win against jorge jesus's side. benfica, after all, are only second in the section by virtue of fewer goals scored. "to say we are favourites for this group now would be an overstatement," said streller. "benfica will come here with lots of respect for us, but they are still favourites.
"they have a great tradition; they have very technically gifted players and are also physically strong in defence. it will be a very difficult game and we are certainly outsiders, although the situation has changed a bit with our draw in manchester. our fans have certainly now got a taste for it after that result."
benfica drew 1-1 against united in lisbon, but comparisons based upon the sides' relative successes against sir alex ferguson's men are not necessarily helpful. "it's not as easy as that," said streller, basel's star performer in their opening group victory against fc oţelul galaţi. "manchester united and benfica are top teams. from the start, we were given an outsider's chance and after our game against united that has changed a bit, but i saw benfica's game against united and i think they were the better team."
thorsten fink was in charge for basel's opening two matches, but his switch to hamburger sv this week means heiko vogel faces a baptism of fire as caretaker-coach. however, streller, who is in his fifth season at basel, insists it will be business as usual at st. jakob-park.
"enough has been said about the change of coach," said the striker. "we have complete faith in our new coach and his philosophy is similar to what went before anyway. he has a compact team which he helped to develop, and although he has now taken over, there are no tensions. now we will see if there is a reaction of defiance. we have faith in our new coach and he has faith in us and that is a good foundation."
smart finishes in either half from bruno césar and óscar cardozo in switzerland lifted unbeaten benfica two points clear at the group c summit.
finely-taken goals in either half from bruno césar and substitute óscar cardozo helped sl benfica to a 2-0 win at fc basel 1893 and the uefa champions league group c leadership.
nicolás gaitán was behind the 20th-minute opener, his surging run and ball into the box getting the finish it deserved from bruno césar. cardozo made the points safe 15 minutes from time, clipping in a free-kick, although there was late disappointment for the eagles as emerson and coach jorge jesus were sent off.
the early sparring was entertaining without any chance of note, benfica goalkeeper artur and basel's yann sommer more than equal to attempts from alexander frei and rodrigo. so it was something of a surprise when the visitors conjured a delightful breakthrough.
the excellent gaitán surged through and played a neat one-two with fellow argentinian pablo aimar on the edge of the area to make some space before passing to bruno césar – via a delightful jump and dummy by rodrigo – and the brazilian fired calmly past sommer.
despite the setback, the home side pressed for a quick equaliser. xherdan shaqiri, eager to impress on his first outing in the group stage after a two-match suspension, found space and then marco streller. the hero of old trafford on matchday two could not beat artur with a low drive.
yet benfica almost went in two goals to the good, gaitán fizzing an opportunity wide from the edge of the box. the first real opening of the second half also went the way of the lisbon club, sommer alert this time to deny emerson one on one after a fine move.
while gaitán was behind benfica's most incisive play, the same was true of shaqiri for basel. the 20-year-old picked out streller with a perfectly-weighted pass on 65 minutes, but artur was well placed again to bravely deny the striker.
jorge jesus responded by introducing cardozo for rodrigo midway through the half. within four minutes the paraguay striker had picked himself up after being felled on the right of the area and planted a free-kick into the corner of sommer's net.
shaqiri continued to search for a way back into the game, shooting from range and running at the benfica defence. he was too quick for emerson late on, the defender dismissed for a second bookable foul on the basel no17. he was soon followed down the tunnel by his coach.
1. sl benfica...3...2...1...0...4...1...3...7 2. manchester united fc...3...1...2...0...6...4...2...5 3. fc basel 1893...3...1...1...1...5...6...-1...4 4. fc oţelul galaţi...3...0...0...3...1...5...-4...0
yardımcı hakemler: gabor erös (hun), györgy ring (hun)
4. hakem: zsolt szabó (hun)
çizgi hakemleri: sandor szabo (hun), mihaly fabian (hun)
basel: yann sommer (gk), park joo ho, aleksandar dragović, benjamin huggel (dk. 85 scott chipperfield), marco streller (c), alexander frei, xherdan shaqiri, david abraham, fabian frei (dk. 66 jacques zoua), markus steinhöfer, granit xhaka (dk. 80 cabral)
