The Super League is entering the hot phase. Alex Frei, record goalscorer for the Swiss national team and pundit on TV channel "blue", assesses the situation ahead of the 28th round.
15.03.2025, 05:00
15.03.2025, 08:11
SDA
Alex Frei, your heart must be leaping for joy at the moment when you look at the table.
"Why?"
You have a special relationship with the top three teams. You played for Servette, FCB and FCL in your playing days, later became sports director at Lucerne and coach at Basel.
"It's clear that I have a special bond with each club and the closest one with FCB. But that doesn't make my heart leap for joy."
Let's leave the emotions aside and get down to the facts. Servette is currently in pole position. That was not foreseeable not so long ago.
"Servette is a bit like Lausanne: a French-speaking team that we in German-speaking Switzerland never really took into account. Geneva have a good team and are currently doing really well. But I don't think it speaks for the league when the leaders have a record like Servette."
Thomas Häberli's team defeated FCZ 3:1 away from home on matchday 11 to move to the top of the table. This was followed by an unprecedented collapse, with just one win from the following eleven games. Geneva have now won five in a row and - after a 3:1 win at FCZ - are back at the top of the table. Will the Grenat team fall again or have they learned the lessons from their negative run?
"It's difficult to say from the outside. I don't know why they got into such a negative tailspin back then. The fact is that March and April are the crucial months and you have to win your games then if you want to stay up there. But there's still a long way to go and the league is so evenly matched - it makes little sense to make a prediction."
In recent years, Young Boys have dominated the league, before that it was FCB who were dominant for years. Why is everything so close this season?
"There are several reasons. The squads are more balanced than in recent years. The quality in the Super League is good, but there is no team - apart from FCB with Shaqiri - that has a player who makes the difference in every other game."
In the early stages of the season, Dereck Kutesa often made the difference for Servette.
"Don't get me wrong, Kutesa is a good player. But in the end, it's consistency and continuity that make the difference between average and very good."
You've already mentioned Xherdan Shaqiri. Undoubtedly a difference player. But: FCB's dependence on him is striking.
"I don't see that as a problem at all. Shaqiri is a stroke of luck for the club because he makes the other players better."
But if he is out for a longer period of time, it will be difficult for FCB.
"I don't think so. Of course, losing Shaqiri would be a bitter loss. But Basel have such a good team that they could certainly absorb him over three or four games."
FCB has by far the most dangerous offense and at the same time the best defense in the league. The goal difference of +27 speaks volumes. Servette, the second-best team in the league in this respect, have only scored nine more goals than they have conceded. Why is Fabio Celestini's team not scoring more points?
"Because there were too many draws. It's easy with the three-point rule - five euros in the piggy bank: it's better to win once and lose once than draw twice."
Basel have won nine of their 13 victories by two or more goals, including a 6-0 win in Geneva and two thumping victories against Winterthur (6-1 and 5-0).
"The goal difference can tip the scales in the end. It's like an extra point - especially in such a tight situation as we currently find ourselves in the Super League."
Let's move on to the third team: Is FC Luzern, with its many young home-grown players, ready for the title yet?
(ponders for a long time) "Lucerne has a young, dynamic squad. Not thinking too much and just going for it can help. At the same time, as soon as you start thinking, inexperience can generate additional pressure and be a disadvantage. At some point, there comes a phase when the pressure increases. Five or six games before the end, when you realize you're still in with a chance of achieving something that will go down in club history. Then it depends on your mental state, it's a psychological story."
How far along is Mario Frick's team in this respect?
"I've already seen Luzern a few times. Their big advantage is that they can turn around a deficit. That speaks for the quality and mentality of the team. But sooner or later it won't work out if they always fall behind."
Will any of the trio manage to stay in front?
"The team that is ready in April and May will do it. All three teams will stay up."
Do you think YB can get into the title race?
"Yes. With an eight-point deficit, YB is right back in the mix."
But they have to win in Basel on Sunday. Otherwise the train has left the station.
"Even if YB don't win, you always have to reckon with them."
Lugano was the most stable team in the league for a long time, and there were many signs that Mattia Croci-Torti's team was ready for the title. However, after three defeats in the championship, the cup exit against third-tier Biel and the elimination from the Conference League, there is little sign of that. What's going wrong in Ticino at the moment?
"I don't know that. I'm not involved enough for that. If you're involved in Europe and aren't used to playing every three days, that can be a problem. It would have been important for Swiss football if Lugano had progressed one round in the Conference League. For the team itself, I see it as an advantage in terms of the league that they've been eliminated. I wouldn't write off the Ticino team just yet."
Finally, a look down. Who will have to go down to the Challenge League and who will contest the barrage?
"I assume that Winterthur and GC will decide the last two places between themselves."
Are you a supporter or opponent of the barrage?
"I think the barrage is okay. The league was recently expanded. But I would definitely see room for two more teams in the Super League."
