Tomorrow Manchester United will face in Bern the BSC Young Boys Bern. I can imagine many of you do not really now this team. I will introduce them to you. First a bit of their history, then it's time for the current team and a closer look to the top-players.
History
The Club was founded over 100 years ago, exactly on the 14 March 1898. One of the most popular Club of this time were the Old Boys Basel and in reference to them the FC Young Boys Bern was born. In the year 1925 the name was changed to Berner Sport Club Young Boys and in the same year BSC YB received their own Stadium, the Wankdorf Stadium. If you are wondering from where you know this name, it is probably from the so-called Miracle of Bern. In the 1954 World Cup Final West Germany beat the heavily favoured Golden Team of Hungary 3-2 after being 0-2 down.
The 50s were also the golden age of the Young Boys, winning 4 League titles in a row and the Cup in 1953 and 58. Afterwards they had their up and downs, but were never again as brilliant as then. In the year 1986 they won the League, in the last game they played against Leader Xamax Neuchatel, won 4:1 and were Swiss Champions after 26 years without a title. In the European Cup a little sensation found place in Bern as BSC YB won against Real Madrid 1:0. Unfortunately, in Madrid they lost 5:0.
After that, BSC Young Boys had to wait for 32 years to win a title. Last year they won the Swiss League with 84 points, 15 more than FC Basel, and a goal average of +43. They qualified for the Cup final too, but they lost against FC Zürich. After playing several times in the Europa League, they qualified for the first time ever for the Champion League.
Palmares: 12 Swiss Leagues, 6 Swiss Cups
Road to the Champions League
After the great season, the supporters were afraid that the most talented players could leave Bern towards a bigger league, but fortunately this did not happen. From the usual starters from last year only the Kasim Nuhu left to Hoffenheim. The coach Adi Hütter went to Eintracht Frankfurt to replace the new Bayern München coach Niko Kovac. The coach was replaced by Gerardo Seoane, former FC Luzern coach.
Under the new coach Seoane the team keeps playing as well as last season, they won all 6 league games, scored 19 goals and conceded only 4. In the Cup YB is known to have big issues against teams from inferior leagues, and so they did twice this year only winning in the Extra time, and even there only minutes before the penalties. To qualify for the Champions League they faced Dinamo Zagreb. After a 1:1 at home they won in Croatia 1:2. In the first game Mbabu scored, in the second game Hoarau scored twice.
Outstanding Players
Steve Von Bergen
The Captain is Steve Von Bergen. He plays for YB since 2013. Before he played in the German Bundesliga around 70 games when he was at Hertha BSC and in the Serie A for different teams around 100 games. He played 50 international games for Switzerland too. He's now 35 years old and is the leader on the pitch, with his experience he helps the younger players around him.
Kevin Mbabu
Kevin Mbabu (23) is currently having the best moments in his young career. He was nominated by the Swiss Coach Vladimir Petkovic for the first time to play the Nations League last week. He played a superb match and they won 6:0 against Iceland. He is a great defender known for his speed and his strength and he is strong in the attack too, as he showed scoring against Dinamo Zagreb. According to transfermakt.ch he is the most valuable player with 9.50 Mio €.
Miralem Sulejmani
Miralem Sulejmani (29) is a wing player. He is known for his dangerous free kicks and his dribbling skills. He finished last season with 11 goals and 9 assists. This season he has already 2 goals and 4 assists in only 5 games.
Sékou Sanogo (29) is a really robust midfielder that holds the team together. He is one of these players you cannot express with statistics how important he is for the team. 7 assists and 5 goals are not bad for a midfielder. He wins lots of tackles and the opponents usually do not have a pleasant match.
Roger Assalé
Roger Assalé (24) is the second most valuable player in YB's squad with 7.50 Mio €. He is rather short (1.67m) but has impressive dribbling skills and is really fast. He finished last season with 12 goals and 9 assists. This season he started injured and at the moment he is at 1 goal and 2 assists in 4 games. Unforgotten is the penalty he provoked in Zagreb which led to the 1:1 only a few minutes after coming into the game.
Guillaume Hoarau
Guillaume Hoarau is already a legend in Bern. He moved to Bern in 2014 and will probably end his career there. He is a leader on and off the pitch. He scored 91 goals and gave 30 assists in the 136 games he played for BSC YB, 0.89 scorer points per game. The rest of his career he played in France, among others for PSG. With his 130 games in Ligue 1 he is the most experienced player in the squad. Last season he scored 15 goals and 7 assists. He was injured for a long time and played only 25 matches, otherwise he would have been the top scorer of the Swiss Super League. He is known for his coolness and his headers, which is expected with his height of 1.92m. He is also loved by the fans because he is very friendly, among other things he is also a singer who gives concerts in Bern and did even sing at the championship party.
Comments