2002–03 FC Basel season

The season started well for Basel and they were undefeated in their first seven matches, winning five and drawing two. The following two games were both lost and Basel slipped down in the league table, but they regrouped to win nine and draw two of the following eleven games. A 1–2 home defeat against Grasshoppers cost them the lead in the league table and Grasshoppers ended the league qualifying stage as table leaders at the winter break. In the championship playoff round Basel lost just two away games, but because both ties against Grasshoppers were drawn the Zurich-based club managed to snatch the title by a single point.

In the round of 32 of the Swiss Cup, Basel won away at lower league team Yverdon-Sport. In the round of 16 and in the quarter-finals Basel eliminated Servette and Young Boys respectively. Lower league club Schaffhausen was defeated 3–0. The final against Neuchâtel Xamax was a one-sided affair: Basel won 6–0 and won the domestic cup.

In the second qualifying round of the Champions League, Basel defeated Slovakian club Žilina 4–1. In the third qualifying round they faced Scottish giants Celtic. In the first leg, away at Celtic Park, the home side won 3–1. Basel were able to rescue the tie in the second leg at St. Jakob-Park, coming away with a 2–0 victory, to draw 3–3 on aggregate, Basel proceeding to the group stage on the away goals rule. Basel's success saw them become only the second Swiss team ever to play in the modern Champions League.

In the group stage Basel were drawn into Group B along with Valencia, Liverpool and Spartak Moscow. Following a 2–0 home win against Spartak, Basel travelled to Anfield to claim a 1–1 draw against Liverpool. After two good results Basel were brought back down to earth by a 6–2 demolition at Valencia's Estadio Mestalla. However, they bounced back and held Valencia to a 2–2 draw in the next fixture. Basel were now sitting in second place in the group, but needing to win at least one of their last two games and needing Liverpool to fail to pick up more than two points. In matchday five, Liverpool lost 1–0 to Valencia and Basel won 2–0 against Spartak at the Luzhniki Stadium. Basel's place in the last 16 was all but secured, although they still had to make sure they did not lose to Liverpool in the last game of the first group stage.

On the last matchday, Basel led 3–0 at half-time through goals from Julio Hernán Rossi, Christian Giménez and Timothée Atouba. Although Liverpool fought back to equalise the game at 3–3 in the second half, Basel qualified for the next round.

In the last 16, Basel faced Manchester United, Juventus and Deportivo de La Coruña. They had a poor start, losing back-to-back games at home to Manchester United and away at Juventus. Basel managed to give themselves hope of reaching the quarter-finals by winning 1-0 home and away at Deportivo. Arguably two of Basel's greatest ever European games came next as they held Manchester United to a 1–1 draw at Old Trafford and claimed a 2–1 victory over Juventus at St. Jakob-Park. Despite being knock-out on tie-breaking criteria, Basel had achieved their seasons European aim.

Chairman	Mr Werner Edelmann
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	St. Jakob-Park (33,433 / 120x80 m)

Source: Homepage FCB

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW   SUI Marco Streller (on loan to Thun from 30 September to 31 December 2002[1] and 2 April to 30 June 2003[2]) — DF   SUI Philippe Cravero (to Servette for one year with option to buy)[3]

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW  CMR Jean-Michel Tchouga (to FC Lugano)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 GK   SUI Eric Rapo (Wil - n/a) 33 FW  ARG Julio Hernán Rossi (Lugano - n/a)[4] 16 DF   SUI Grégory Duruz (FC Sion – n/a) 7 FW   SUI Antonio Esposito (St. Étienne)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 DF   SUI Bernt Haas (West Bromwich Albion, loan)[5] 23 MF   SUI Philipp Degen (promoted from Basel U-21)[6] 28 MF  AUS Ljubo Miličević (Zürich, loan)[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SVK Miroslav König (to Zürich)[8] 2 DF   SUI Massimo Ceccaroni (end of career) [9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 9 MF  RSA George Koumantarakis (to Preston North End – n/a)[10]

The Qualification round to the 2002–03 league season was contested by twelve teams. The eight teams at the top of the table at the end of the regular season (or qualification) were then to compete in the championship play-off round.

Basel v Neuchâtel Xamax

13 July 2002 2	Basel	1 – 1	Neuchâtel Xamax	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Barberis  14' Cantaluppi  20'	Report (in German)	15' Wiederkehr  32' Chiquinho  65' Portillo  72' Leandro	Attendance: 23,465 Referee: Etter

Young Boys v Basel

17 July 2002 3	Young Boys	1 – 1	Basel	Stadion Neufeld, Bern
	Rochat  2' Chapuisat  47' 52' Petrosyan  56' Descloux  61' Sermeter  89'	(Report) (in German)	24' Esposito  32' Cantaluppi  33' Barberis  36' Rossi  42'  90' Giménez	Attendance: 10,700 Referee: René Rogalla

Basel v Delémont

20 July 2002 4	Basel	1 – 0	Delémont	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Ergić  11' Giménez 14'	Report (in German)	11' Kebe  30' Nocita  61' Selimi	Attendance: 21,929 Referee: Nicole Petignat

St. Gallen v Basel

27 July 2002 5	St. Gallen	1 – 2	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
	Barnetta  44'	Report (in German)	59' M. Yakin  76' Rossi	Attendance: 11,300 (sold out) Referee: Massimo Busacca

Basel v Servette

3 August 2002 6	Basel	4 – 2	Servette	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Varela  10' Zwyssig  28' Giménez  45' H. Yakin  57' (pen.) Cantaluppi  75' Esposito  93'	(Report) (in German)	38' Oscar Londono  49' Lombardo  60' A. Frei  75' Fournier  78'  25' Gaspoz  84' Thurre	Attendance: 23,257 Referee: Guido Wildhaber

Zürich v Basel

10 August 2002 7	Zürich	0 – 4	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
	Akalé  33'	(Report) (in German)	8' Giménez  18', 45' H. Yakin  24' Esposito  28' D. Degen  31' Rossi	Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

Basel v Luzern

18 August 2002 8	Basel	2 – 3	Luzern	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Giménez  36' Rossi  46' M. Yakin  41'  67' Quennoz  88'	(Report) (in German)	12'  10' Monteiro  22' Marić  69' Koch  85' Malacarne  88' Enrique  93' Arrué	Attendance: 23,257 Referee: Beck

Thun v Basel

24 August 2002 9	Thun	4 – 1	Basel	Stadion Lachen, Thun
	Rama  46', 84' Baumann  65' Moser  86'	[ Report] (in German)	51' Tum	Attendance: 6,740 Referee: Marcus Nobs (his 100th NLA game)

Grasshoppers v Basel

1 September 2002 10	Grasshoppers	2 – 3	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
	Barijo  7' Borer  20' Núñez  34' Eduardo  33' Tararache  39' Castillo  66'	(Report) (in German)	14' Savić  19' H. Yakin  22' (pen.)  22' Cantaluppi  45' Giménez  63'  90' M. Yakin	Attendance: 17,500 (sold out) Referee: Philippe Leuba

Basel v Wil

11 September 2002 11	Basel	7 – 1	Wil	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Giménez  8', 32' Cantaluppi  15' Barberis  50' Rossi  69', 71' M. Yakin  80'	(Report) (in German)	9' (pen.) Fabinho  22' Mangiaratti  62' Balmer	Attendance: 21,425 Referee: Salm

Basel v Aarau

14 September 2002 12	Basel	4 – 0	Aarau	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Giménez  5', 54' Esposito  51' P. Degen  56' Barberis  71' M. Yakin  91'	(Report) (in German)	63' Pogatetz  70' Diop  91' Skrzypczak	Attendance: 25,385 Referee: Guido Wildhaber

Neuchâtel Xamax v Basel

21 September 2002 13	Neuchâtel Xamax	1 – 1	Basel	Stade de la Maladière, Neuchâtel
	Leandro  48'	(Report) (in German)	52' Esposito  63' Cantaluppi  82' Barberis	Attendance: 5,600 Referee: Nicole Petignat

Basel v Young Boys

28 September 2002 14	Basel	2 – 1	Young Boys	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Duruz  15' Cantaluppi  31' Giménez  68' Tum  68' Varela  78'	(Report) (in German)	22' Sermeter  23' Disler  62' Magnin  75' Descloux	Attendance: 29,762 (sold out) Referee: Carlo Bertolini

SR Delémont v Basel

6 October 2002 15	SR Delémont	1 – 2	Basel	La Blancherie, Delémont
	Saidou Kébé  80'	(Report) (in German)	28' Esposito  36' Tum  60' Rossi  80' Cantaluppi	Attendance: 6,300 (stadion record) Referee: Etter

Basel v St. Gallen

19 October 2002 16	Basel	6 – 0	St. Gallen	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Rossi  67'  14', 31', 80' Giménez  45' Tum  84' Savić  90'	(Report) (in German)	64' Alex  68' Tato  91' Colacino	Attendance: 27,599 Referee: Marcus Nobs

Servette v Basel

25 October 2002 17	Servette	0 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
	Senderos  3' Thurre 55' Gaspoz  93'	Report (in German)	24' Rossi  51' Ergić  54' Varela  59' Esposito	Attendance: 6,511 Referee: Massimo Busacca

Basel v Zürich

1 November 2002 18	Basel	5 – 3	Zürich	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:30	Ergić  4', 45+3' Rossi  41', 56' Varela  77'	Report (in German)	18' Keller  28' 82' Jefferson  33' Luca Iodice  57' Bastida  90' Yasar	Attendance: 28,870 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

Luzern v Basel

17 November 2002 19	Luzern	1 – 1	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
	Brand  33', pen.' Rota  37'  55' Hilfiker  72' Kavelashvili  90'	Report (in German)	32' Zuberbühler  67' Zwyssig  82' (o.g.) Zukic  86' Haas	Attendance: 14,700 Referee: René Rogalla

Basel v Thun

22 November 2002 20	Basel	3 – 0	Thun	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:30	H. Yakin  9' Chipperfield  32' Rossi  51' Giménez  38'	(Report) (in German)	45' Hodžić  88' Deumi	Attendance: 30,500 (sold out) Referee: Beck

Basel v Grasshoppers

1 December 2002 21	Basel	1 – 2	Grasshoppers	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
	Tum  71' Atouba  48' M. Yakin  60' Smiljanić  76' Varela  85'	(Report) (in German)	25' Tararache  42' Rozental  60' Núñez  87' Gerber	Attendance: 33,433 (sold out) Referee: Urs Meier

Wil v Basel

7 December 2002 22	Wil	1 – 4	Basel	Bergholz, Wil
	Romano  89' 40' Balmer  43'	(Report) (in German)	4' Giménez  30' H. Yakin  37' Barberis  67' Esposito	Attendance: 5,400 Referee: Marcus Nobs

Žilina v Basel

31 July 2002 First leg	Žilina	1 – 1	Basel	Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina
18:00	Sninský  55' Barčík  29'	Report	23' Chipperfield  32' Esposito  38' (o.g.) Klago  84' Varela	Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)

Basel v Žilina

7 August 2002 Second leg	Basel	3 – 0	Žilina	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
19:30	Giménez  12', 50' M. Yakin  23' Esposito  45'	Report	73' Špendla  80' Staš	Attendance: 16,562 Referee: Darko Čeferin (Slovenia)

Basel won 4–1 on aggregate

Celtic v Basel

14 August 2002 First leg	Celtic	3 – 1	Basel	Celtic Park, Glasgow
20:45	Larsson  3' (pen.) Sutton  52' Lambert  64' Sylla  88'	Report	2' Giménez  52' Duruz  62' H. Yakin  64' Cantaluppi  81' Varela	Attendance: 58,520 Referee: Manuel Mejuto González (Spain)

Basel v Celtic

28 August 2002 Second leg	Basel	2 – 0	Celtic	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
20:30	Giménez  9' Rossi  12' M. Yakin  22' Varela  42'	Report	42' Sylla  42' Guppy	Attendance: 30,510 (sold out) Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

3–3 on aggregate, Basel won on away goals