their confidence boosted by a 3-1 win at as roma a fortnight ago, gilles yapi says fc basel 1893 are looking to repeat the trick when st. jakob-park stages the return on wednesday.
fc basel 1893 are out to prove their victory away to as roma a fortnight ago was no fluke as the sides meet again at st. jakob-park on wednesday, according to one of the key performers in that 3-1 win – gilles yapi.
the midfielder was involved in the move that ended with alexander frei opening the scoring at the stadio olimpico, and saw enough from the swiss champions to suggest another group e triumph is a distinct possibility.
"roma are obviously the favourites in this match – roma are roma and basel are basel," said yapi. "however, i believe that we can beat this great team if we perform at our best; the win at roma was great for our confidence."
basel's first uefa champions league win since 2003 lifted thorsten fink's side on to three points in the section, level with the giallorossi and cfr 1907 cluj and six behind pacesetters fc bayern münchen.
yapi played down media praise of his eye-catching display in rome – "i respect the opinion of the press but the performance of the team is always more important than the performance of an individual" – and instead focused on the challenge which lies ahead.
"things move extremely fast in football and our excellent display against bayern, which ended in defeat, and our win at roma are history now. we are facing a tough game tomorrow."
meanwhile, roma goalkeeper júlio sérgio is wary of basel's attacking options, which include the ivorian playmaker. "we know that basel are excellent in attack," he said. "we have to be careful and close them down, as we're obviously trying to reduce the number of chances our opponents create." the brazilian could return in place of bogdan lobonţ after recovering from an ankle injury.
