Sékou Sanogo has won several league titles with Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade. Now the two clubs close to the Ivorian midfielder's heart will meet at the end of the Champions League phase.
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- Wednesday sees the big showdown of the league phase in the Champions League. 18 games will take place simultaneously and will decide the race for a place in the knockout phase.
- YB, who are still without points after seven games, will face Red Star Belgrade at home at the end of the league phase.
- Sékou Sanogo won several league titles with Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade and talks about the direct duel. "For me, YB is the favorite because it's playing at home," says Sanogo.
It is a date that is etched in Bern's collective memory like no other. 28.4.18 is a combination of numbers that triggers memories and emotions in thousands of people that they are unlikely to experience a second time in their lives. The day on which Young Boys ended their 32-year title drought caused an unprecedented explosion of emotions in Bern, the images of the stampede after the final whistle went around the world, and there was no tomorrow in the Wankdorf that evening.
Sékou Sanogo sits in his apartment in Belgrade as he thinks back to these moments. The Ivorian was part of that historic YB team back then. In midfield, he is an indispensable component in coach Adi Hütter's puzzle of success with his presence and strength in tackles. "This title is something very special," said Sanogo in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. "Not just the city, but the whole canton has joined in the celebrations. This is unforgettable." Also because during his first three years in Bern, in which YB unsuccessfully strived for the title, he experienced how strong this longing was to finally bring a trophy back to the capital.
"At some point you get used to winning"
Sanogo made a total of 138 appearances in four and a half seasons in yellow and black, including four times in the Champions League group stage in the fall of 2018, when he played against Manchester United, Juventus Turin and Valencia twice. The West African has played for no club more in his career than YB. It is understandable that a special connection remains. He still talks to YB captain Loris Benito, Christian Fassnacht and current sporting director Steve von Bergen, former team-mates, from time to time. And Sanogo also says: "Half of my heart belongs to YB." And the other? "À l'Étoile Rouge." Red Star Belgrade.
Sanogo laughs. He knows that it will be a very special game for him in particular on Wednesday (9pm) in the Wankdorf, when his two favorite clubs face each other at the end of the league phase of the reformed Champions League. After a brief stint with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, Sanogo has won four league titles and three Copa titles in a row with the Serbs. He remembers a lavish party on the Danube when the title win was celebrated on a boat. But he has never experienced emotions comparable to those in Bern in 2018 in Serbia's capital. Sanogo says: "At some point, you get used to winning."
Time to grow together
It is a feeling of saturation that also became noticeable in the YB environment at some point after Sanogo's departure. The two-time Ivorian international, who has also held Serbian citizenship for a number of years, has of course seen Bern's rise to fame continue without him. That the Young Boys have become the top team in Switzerland with six league titles and two cup wins in seven years. And that this season, however, they are finding it surprisingly difficult to live up to their usual level of performance.
"I hope that YB can pick themselves up and become as dominant as before," says Sanogo, who watched the start of the second half of the season against Winterthur live on TV. The midfielder also recognizes that the team is not yet as solid as the Bernese management would like due to the many changes. But he recalls that the 2018 team had to grow together over several years before they finally ascended to the throne. "It takes time, but it's important for YB to climb back up the table. We can't allow ourselves to be down there."
When he talks about his former employer in this way, Sanogo always refers to "nous", we - as if he was still going in and out of Papiermühlestrasse in Bern. "Bern is like home to me," says Sanogo. "But so is Belgrade." The 35-year-old has been back in the Serbian metropolis for a good six months now, after a six-month detour to FC Schaffhausen in the Challenge League, where he found a new home with Zeleznicar Pancevo, currently ninth in the Serbian league, 14 km north-east of the capital. "Football is my life. I hope I can play for a long time to come."
The belief in home strength
But who does he favor on Wednesday, with his divided heart in his chest? Sanogo laughs. It will certainly be an interesting game because both teams want to say goodbye to the Champions League in the best possible way. YB will probably take more risks, Sanogo suspects, because they are desperate to secure their first points. "For me, YB are the favorites because they're playing at home. We've always been difficult to beat there."
Sékou Sanogo will be sitting in front of the TV screen in anticipation as the most famous anthem in European club football blares out of the loudspeakers in the Wankdorf for the last time for the time being. With the second half of the Serbian championship starting in a few days' time, a trip to his old home is not on the cards. However, his belief in Bern's resurgence is unbroken when he says: "I hope I can come to Bern for a Champions League game next season."
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