When Pablo Aimar equalised for SL Benfica in the true footballing arena that is Old Trafford on Matchday 5 of the Champions League, most watching the game including the Manchester United supporters believed their team would come back at the Portuguese again and get a vital winner that would seal last 16 qualification.

The goal never came and it was Benfica instead who were celebrating booking their place in the next stage of Europe’s elite tournament.  For United, they knew that they had to go to Switzerland in the last game and get at least a point to get a minimum second-place finish in the group. However, FC Basel’s 3-2 victory away to bottom club FC Oțelul Galați meant the Swiss side were only one point behind the Red Devils and with a great shout of causing an upset and qualifying themselves.

Manchester United sent crashing out of the Champions League

And they did just that.  Inspired by the 20-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri in midfield – highly-coveted around Europe –  they ran Manchester United ragged and took an early lead through Marco Streller.  When Shaqiri provided his second assist of the night for Alexander Frei, the St-Jakob Park erupted in celebration – they knew that their Basel heroes had reached the last 16 of the Champions League for only the second time in their history.  Despite a goal coming through Phil Jones very late on for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, Basel held on strong to claim a famous 2-1 victory.  Perhaps for the English media it was more famous for the fact that it sent 2008 winners Manchester United down to the Europa League.

Rooney was poor vs Basel.

Basel’s manager Heiko Vogel after the win over United: “There is boundless joy; the pride I feel is at its maximum.  Not only did we win 2-1, it was the way we won. Especially in the second half, the daring way we played.  I’d expected Manchester [United] to attack, to throw everything at us one more time, but the way we resisted them was sensational.

“I believe we can’t be beaten when it comes to togetherness; here every player runs for another.  And despite all the pride, I’m sure that we can play even better.  Some passages were really good, in defence and attack, but nevertheless we could have played the odd counterattack better”

A tough task for FC Basel

The Swiss Super League champions’ reward for their group stage progression was a tie with German heavyweights FC Bayern Munich.  Basel are known as FCB to many, as are opponents Bayern Munich.  Vogel knows the Bavarians and their star players pretty well, having coached Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm and Diego Contento during his time in Bayern’s youth system from 1998 to 2007.  His time in Germany also featured spells overseeing the Under-10, U13, U15 and U17 teams of Bayern.

With this knowledge, German-born Vogel knows the task that lies ahead for the two-in-a-row Swiss title winners.  He said: “The task is even a tad more difficult than against Manchester United.  You just have to name some of their players like [Franck] Ribéry, [Arjen] Robben, Thomas Müller and Mario Gomez.  It will be rather more difficult than last year.  The final in Munich will give additional motivation to their players and coach.  This is why it will be very, very difficult to defy them for 180 minutes.”

There is no doubting the quality that Bayern have in abundance and the Bundesliga leaders will be firm favourites to move aside Basel on their way to the quarter finals.  Aside from some doubting the solidity of their defence, especially at centre back, many have tipped Bayern to be the dark horses of the competition and go on to win the final in their own backyard.  But Basel will have confidence from reaching the knockout stage and also how they got there.  The aforementioned victory over United was the cherry on top of the icing for FCB, with a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford early on another highlight.  A credible 1-1 draw away to group winners Benfica will also live long in the memory for Basel’s loyal backing.  Many of them will be asking, ‘can we go even further?’ now that they overcame such top opposition in the group stages.

Inspiring history in the Champions League

They will look back to season 2002/2003 where a Yakin-brothers inspired side also reached the last 16 stage, only to be knocked out by Italian giants Juventus on goal difference in the group format, which was later ditched in favour of a knockout stage.  Parallels can be drawn to the present day, with Basel leaving Old Trafford with a draw back in 2002 also, this time 1-1.  They also defeated Juventus at home in the group.

So what about the players of Basel?  The highly-rated Shaqiri is regarded as the club’s best talent and the Basel fans can look to their number 17 to provide the link between midfield and attack using his blistering pace, both on and off the ball, to beat defenders and get dangerous crosses in.  The Yugoslavian-born Swiss international has 17 caps to his name, chipping in with 4 goals already.  Three of those goals came in one game, a Euro 2012 qualifier versus Bulgaria at Basel’s home stadium in September of 2011.  Basel are also blessed with an experienced and prolific strike force of Streller and Frei.

A key duo for Basel: Streller and Frei

The former is captain of the club and on his second spell at FCB, having left in 2004 to sign for VfB Stuttgart.  He returned three years later and in 119 appearances he has scored 55 goals, not a bad return.  The 30-year-old striker, who stands at an impressive 6ft 5in, is a powerful presence up top for Vogel’s side, and is the perfect partner for the smaller-sized Frei.  The 32-year-old is also on his second stint at St-Jakob Park after playing for big teams such as Stade Rennais and Borussia Dortmund before returning in 2009.  The all-time record scorer for Switzerland has an even more deadly scoring touch than Streller, notching a total of 53 times since re-signing for the northern Switzerland club.

Defence is key for Basel

Keeping the guard at the back is also vital in any football competition, and new signing from the J-League, Park Joo-Hoo, has impressed in the left-back role.  The defensive partnership of Austrian stopper Aleksandar Dragović and David Abraham from Argentina has also been key in securing the qualification to the next round of the Champions League.

For Basel to harbour any hope of getting past the might of the Germans, they must not concede an away goal in the first leg.  A positive result in the home tie would give them hope of a great shock at the Allianz Arena in the return fixture.  Of course, they will want to see the January transfer window close with key stars such as the hot prospect Shaqiri still wearing the RotBlau of Basel.