Basel vs Slovan Bratislava

St. Jakob-Park is the venue as Basel and Slovan Bratislava go head-to-head in the first-leg of their Europa Conference League last-16 tie.

Basel had to settle for a runner-up finish in Europa Conference League Group H behind non-other than Slovan Bratislava, a side they failed to beat in both group H2Hs (D1, L1), conceding multiple goals on each occasion. However, they’ve picked themselves up in the meantime, overcoming Trabzonspor in the knockout playoff round 2-1 on aggregate despite losing the first leg on the road. St. Jakob-Park has been Basel’s safe shelter in Europe of late, as they’ve racked up ten wins in their last 13 home outings in major European competition (D1, L2), qualifiers excluded. What’s more, they’ve netted 2+ goals nine times during that 13-game sequence, though they did suffer a 2-0 defeat to Slovan in this season’s Europa Conference League group stages.

On the other hand, visiting Slovan Bratislava had to thank a top-table finish in Group H for sidestepping the Europa Conference League knockout playoffs as they now look to reach the quarter-finals of a European competition for the first time since the 1968/69 Cup Winner’s Cup. Coming into this clash, Slovan thrashed fierce domestic rivals Spartak Trnava 4-1 at home, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine matches (W5, D4 – 90mins only). Though they’re unlikely to recreate the abovementioned group-stage triumph in Switzerland, a five-game unbeaten streak on the road (W2, D3) means the visitors are capable of defying the odds.