By Gary Fulcher.
Matchday two of the Champions League sees Liverpool travel to Switzerland to face FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park on Wednesday evening, 7.45pm kick off UK time. Basel suffered a heavy 1-5 defeat against Real Madrid in their opening group game, while Liverpool labored to a 2-1 victory against Ludogorets Razgrad, taking all three points thanks to a stoppage time penalty from Steven Gerrard.
Basel appointed Paulo Sousa – whom Brendan Rodgers replaced as Swansea manager back in July 2010 – as their manager in the Summer, and despite Sousa being Basel’s fourth new managerial appointment in five years, RotBlau have won the Swiss Super League for the past five consecutive seasons. The furthest Basel have progressed in the Champions League is the Last 16 (2011/12) where they were eliminated by Bayern Munich 7-1 on aggregate despite a surprise 1-0 victory in the first leg in Switzerland.
Basel did the double over Chelsea in last season’s Champions League Group Stage, winning 2-1 at Stamford Bridge and 1-0 at St. Jakob Park, but still failed to qualify from Group E, losing out to Schalke in the final game, with the German side pipping Basel to 2nd place following a 2-0 victory on Matchday 6.
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