# 2000–01 FC Basel season

The 2000–01 Fussball Club Basel 1893 season was their 107th season since the club's foundation on 15 November 1893. Following their promotion in the 1993–94 season this was their seventh consecutive season in the highest tier of Swiss football. René C. Jäggi was the club's chairman for the fifth year. FC Basel played their home games in the alternate Stadion Schützenmatte while the new stadium was being built and as of 15 March 2001 in the brand new St. Jakob-Park.

## Overview

Christian Gross was the first team trainer for the second season. Still forming his team, Basel made a number of signings before the season started. Goalkeeper Miroslav König, André Muff and Hakan Yakin signed in from Grasshopper Club. The two strikers Hervé Tum, from Sion, and Jean-Michel Tchouga, from Yverdon-Sports, joined to strengthen the attack. Ivan Ergic joined from Juventus and Carlos Varela was loaned from Servette.
In the other direction Luís Calapes moved to Xamax, Didier Tholot and Thomas Häberli to Young Boys and Agent Sawu to Wil. Also Pascal Zuberbühler went on a one-year loan to Bayer Leverkusen, Marco Tschopp on a one-year loan to Xamax and Edmond N'Tiamoah on a six-month loan to SR Delémont.

## The Campaign
### Friendly games

Basel entered the Sempione Cup, which was played in Balsthal. The first match against Brazilian team Ituano FC was won and the second match against Turkish team Besiktas Istanbul ended in a draw. Basel were placed second in the final classification.

### Domestic League

The Qualification Round to the League season 2000–01 was contested by twelve teams. The first eight teams of the regular season (or Qualification) then competed in the Championship Playoff Round. The regular season started on 15 July and ended on 10 December. The championship play-offs began on 25 February 2001 and ended on 26 May. The teams aim was to end the qualification round in the top four table and in the championship to reach the 2001–02 UEFA Cup. Basel started the regular season with three wins and three defeats, but then became somewhat more consistent, being defeated just once in the following 12 matches. The end of the first half of the regular season ended very disappointing as the team lost four of the last five games and slipped to fifth position in the league table.
Basel were able to play the games of the Championship Group in the new stadium, the St. Jakob-Park opened on 15 March 2001. It was sold out with 33,433 spectators on three occasions, Lausanne-Sport (15.03.2001), St. Gallen (14.04.2001) and Grasshopper Club (15.05.2001) The team were more consistent in the championship, they were only beaten twice. But they only won four matches (eight draws), goal scoring was very rare. Basel ended the season in fourth position in the league table, thus qualifying for the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

### Domestic Cup

The Swiss Cup started for Basel in the Round of 32 on 18 February 2001. Basel defeated lower class Etoile Carouge, but only after a penalty shoot out. In the next round they were drawn against and beat lower classed Bellinzona, but only narrowly. In the quarterfinals Basel were defeated by Lausanne-Sport, again after another penalty shoot out.

### Europe

Basel were qualified for the UEFA Cup and in the qualifying round they beat Folgore 12–1 on aggregate. In the first round they beat Brann Bergen with an aggregate score of 7–6. In the second round Basel were tied against Feyenoord. Feyenoord won both matches and so the European season came to an end for Basel before Christmas.

## Players
### First team squad

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad. It includes all players that were in the squad the day the season started on 15 July 2000 but subsequently left the club after that date and it includes all players that transferred in during the season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | SVK | Miroslav König |
| 1 | GK | SUI | Pascal Zuberbühler |
| 2 | DF | SUI | Massimo Ceccaroni |
| 3 | DF | SUI | Philippe Cravero |
| 4 | DF | SUI | Alexandre Quennoz |
| 5 | DF | GER | Oliver Kreuzer |
| 6 | MF | SUI | Benjamin Huggel |
| 7 | FW | CMR | Jean-Michel Tchouga |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Carlos Varela |
| 9 | FW | RSA | George Koumantarakis |
| 10 | MF | SUI | Didier Tholot |
| 11 | FW | TUR | Cetin Güner |
| 12 | DF | SUI | Sébastien Barberis |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | SUI | Nenad Savić |
| 16 | MF | TOG | Yao Aziawonou |
| 17 | MF | SUI | Mario Cantaluppi |
| 18 | GK | SUI | Romain Crevoisier |
| 19 | DF | SUI | André Muff |
| 20 | DF | SUI | Ivan Knez |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Feliciano Magro |
| 22 | DF | SCG | Ivan Ergic |
| 23 | DF | SUI | Murat Yakin |
| 24 | DF | SUI | Thierry Ebe |
| 25 | GK | CIV | Slaven Matan |
| 26 | FW | FRA | Edmond N'Tiamoah |
| 28 | MF | SUI | Hakan Yakin |
| 29 | FW | CMR | Hervé Tum |

### Transfers in

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | SVK | Miroslav König (from Grasshopper Club) |
| 7 | FW | CMR | Jean-Michel Tchouga (from Yverdon-Sports) |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Carlos Varela (on loan from Servette) |
| 16 | MF | TOG | Yao Aziawonou (from Sion) |
| 18 | GK | SUI | Romain Crevoisier (from SC Kriens) |
| 19 | DF | SUI | André Muff (from Grasshopper Club) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | ITA | Feliciano Magro (on loan from Udinese) |
| 22 | DF | SCG | Ivan Ergic (from Juventus) |
| 23 | DF | SUI | Murat Yakin (from 1. FC Kaiserslautern) |
| 24 | DF | SUI | Thierry Ebe (on loan from Etoile Carouge) |
| 26 | FW | FRA | Edmond N'Tiamoah (from youth team) |
| 28 | MF | SUI | Hakan Yakin (from Grasshopper Club) |
| 29 | FW | CMR | Hervé Tum (from Sion) |

### Transfers out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | SUI | Pascal Zuberbühler (loan to Bayer Leverkusen) |
| 3 | DF | SUI | Luís Calapes (to Xamax) |
| 8 | MF | SUI | Raphael Kehrli (to Luzern) |
| 10 | MF | SUI | Didier Tholot (to Young Boys) |
| 11 | FW | TUR | Cetin Güner (to Gaziantepspor) |
| 13 | DF | SUI | Marco Tschopp (one year loan to Xamax) |
| 18 | GK | SUI | Oliver Stöckli (retired) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | DF | SUI | Thomas Häberli (to Young Boys) |
| 26 | FW | GHA | Edmond N'Tiamoah (loan to SR Delémont) |
| 27 | FW | ZIM | Agent Sawu (to Wil) |
| 29 | FW | SUI | Urs Güntensperger (end of career, to FC Horgen) |
| — | MF | RUS | Aleksandr Rytchkov (end of contract, free agent) |
| — | FW | SUI | Deniz Mendi (end of contract to Young Boys) |
| — | FW | FRA | Olivier Boumelaha (to St. Gallen) |

## Results
### Legend

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Nationalliga A
#### Qualifying Phase
#### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Lugano | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 33 | 16 | +17 | 42 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 2 | St. Gallen | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 43 | 18 | +25 | 40 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 3 | Grasshopper | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 36 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 4 | Lausanne-Sport | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 35 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 5 | Basel | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 34 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 6 | Servette | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 33 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 7 | Sion | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 32 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 8 | Zürich | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 31 | Advance to championship round halved points (rounded up) as bonus |
| 9 | Aarau | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 31 | 43 | −12 | 24 | Continue to promotion/relegation round |
| 10 | Yverdon-Sport | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 21 | Continue to promotion/relegation round |
| 11 | Xamax | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 21 | 53 | −32 | 20 | Continue to promotion/relegation round |
| 12 | Luzern | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 50 | −23 | 19 | Continue to promotion/relegation round |

#### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Grasshopper (C) | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 29 | 14 | +15 | 18 | 46 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 2 | Lugano | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 21 | 41 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | St. Gallen | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 23 | 28 | −5 | 20 | 40 | Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Basel | 14 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 17 | 37 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round |
| 5 | Servette | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 17 | 37 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Lausanne-Sport | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 27 | −12 | 18 | 33 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round |
| 7 | Sion | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 16 | 32 | |
| 8 | Zürich | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 16 | 28 | |
* ↑ As 2000–01 Swiss Cup winner.

### UEFA Cup
#### Qualifying round

Basel win 12-1 on aggregate

#### First round

Basel won 7–6 on aggregate.

#### Second round

Feyenoord win 3–1 on aggregate