FCZ captain Brecher annoyed "Lucerne realized that they couldn't keep up in a normal way"

In a wild game with three penalties and two sending-offs, Lucerne beat FC Zurich. For FCZ captain Yanick Brecher, the defeat had a lot to do with the opponent.

Lucerne conceded three penalties in their home game against FC Zurich. They converted two of them on the rebound and one directly. The visitors, who were already two goals down after 19 minutes, weakened themselves further as a result: Daniel Denoon was shown yellow-red in the 22nd minute. Shortly before the end, Lindrit Kamberi was even sent off a second time.

3 penalties and 2 sending offsFCZ experience an afternoon to forget in Lucerne

Captain Yanick Brecher was left feeling disgusted after the horror afternoon in central Switzerland. "It sucks - it's three penalty goals against - you're outnumbered for a long time," summarized the FCZ goalie, immediately apologizing for his choice of words.

He was pleased with the performance of his front men, who were decimated early on: "We were more active, we played forward, we tried our best, we were dominant. I'm proud of the team for what we achieved today despite everything," the 31-year-old summed up.

Emotional Lucerne style of play at the origin of the flood of cards?

When asked about the penalty situations, he said: "There are things we can influence and things we can't influence when it comes to the scenes. That's all I want to say about that."

Brecher does, however, go on to talk about Lucerne, with whom FCZ fought an intense - and often over-harsh - duel in the swissporarena. In the end, referee Sven Wolfensberger handed out six yellow cards in addition to the yellow-red and red cards.

"We wanted to be dominant right from the start," said Brecher, adding: "Lucerne realized that they couldn't keep up in a normal way. Nevertheless, with ten yellow cards, we were almost more active than they were. They tried again to get into the game through their emotions. We may have let them infect us too much," says Brecher. But that had absolutely no influence on the result, according to the FCZ veteran.

FCZ coach Ricardo Moniz does not want to criticize publicly after the game and says tellingly. "I've learned in the past not to say too much here. If I show my emotions now, it will be turned against me," said the Dutchman, who was banned for two games before the winter break after being scolded by the referee.

Who will play in the center of defence against Basel?

Denoon and Kamberi are suspended after being sent off in the thriller against Basel on February 2. When asked who will line up in front of him in defense next week, Brecher says dryly: "We have enough players, that's not our problem."

The personnel situation in defense also concerns the experts in the blue Sport Studio. "Who will form the center-back duo together with (Mariano) Gómez?" asks Dani Gygax.

For Pascal Zuberbühler, the matter is clear: "Mirlind (Kryzieu) is on the payroll at FC Zurich. (Nikola) Katic is on the payroll at FC Zurich. Do they have a firm offer? These are players who belong to FC Zurich." Zubi thinks they should now be used against Basel.

Both Kryeziu and Katic want to leave the club and are in negotiations with other clubs, sporting director Milos Malenovic confirmed publicly during the winter break.

Zubi now wants the players who want to leave to present themselves. "As a sporting director or president, I want to see from a club that we want Mirlind Kryeziu, we want Nikola Katic - for this and this price." He does not accept the risk of injury in the event of a match as an excuse, because then you don't have to play football at all, scoffs the 54-year-old.

As an alternative, the former national team goalkeeper suggests that FCZ should simply help themselves to the U21 team - which is coached by another blue sport expert, Dennis Hediger.