Basel not as straightforward as it looks for Real Madrid
Rob Train Rob Dawson Sam Borden Sophie Lawson Sam Tighe Chris Wright Shubi Arun Jeff Kassouf ESPN News Services
With Basel in midseason form and always a threat to bigger clubs in European competition, a draw at home against the Swiss would actually be a good result for beleaguered Real Madrid, writes Rob Train.
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"It's a good time for this match to come," Carlo Ancelotti said in his pregame news conference Monday as he prepares the defence of the title Real Madrid claimed last season. The Italian is right about the timing, but perhaps wrong about the opposition: Ludogorets Razgrad would have been a more welcome visitor than Paolo Sousa's FC Basel at this point in time. The Bulgarian side was playing in the amateur divisions just a few years ago and could well be on the wrong end of a cricket score at Anfield.

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Basel, on the other hand, have a bit of history when it comes to upsetting the odds against the traditional European super-clubs. Something of a heavyweight themselves in the 1970s, Basel fell off the continental radar for two decades until returning to the elite in 2002-03. Their opponents in that year's Champions League might have been forgiven for underestimating the relatively inexperienced club, but any notion that the newcomers were a soft touch was swiftly dispelled when Liverpool -- home and away -- and Valencia were both held in the first group stage. Juventus were subsequently beaten at the St. Jakob Stadium and a point nicked off Manchester United at Old Trafford in the second round-robin phase.

Barcelona have also been stopped in their tracks by the perennial Swiss champions, in 2008-09, and Bayern Munich were beaten 1-0 in 2011-12, when Basel also took four points from United, scoring five goals in the process and going through to the knockout stage at the expense of Sir Alex Ferguson's team. Last season, Basel did the double over Chelsea in the group stage. They also reached the semifinals of the Europa League in 2012-13, on that occasion being defeated by the same London opposition but getting the better of Tottenham and Zenit St. Petersburg along the way -- and all on a budget a fraction of the size of Real Madrid's.

In short, the side Sousa inherited this summer from Murat Yakin packs a heck of a punch on the big stage, despite only having featherweights to practice against in the Swiss Super League. Taking into account the requirement to sell their best players every summer -- Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka both came through the ranks at Basel, and Mohamed Salah caught Chelsea's eye in last season's doubleheader -- it is a triumph for the club's youth system and transfer policy. At the Bernabeu, both are under increasingly unfavourable scrutiny.

Mourinho blamed fatigue following an international break and his own failure to rotate his squad for the second defeat to Basel in last year's competition. That was also the culmination of a run of four losses for Mourinho's second Chelsea incarnation, and that is a record that Ancelotti can well do without. Already Real have notched up the club's worst start to a Liga campaign since 2005-06, when Vanderlei Luxemburgo was in the hot seat. The Brazilian didn't last the season and was replaced by assistant coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, who guided the side to second place but 12 points adrift of Barcelona. In short, Ancelotti needs to turn this around, and quickly.

The statistics do not make for pretty reading: Real have conceded six goals in their past two games and of eight leaked in all competitions so far, four have come from set pieces. Ancelotti highlighted the need to address this weakness ahead of the visit of Basel, but the opposition are highly likely to attack it mercilessly. Sousa's side can hardly compete man-for-man on level terms, but as an exceptionally organized unit they have a very good chance of causing an upset. Sousa has some strapping 6-foot plus defenders at his disposal in the shape of former Real player Walter Samuel, Fabian Schaer and the wonderfully named Behrang Safari, while captain and main goal threat Marco Streller stands at 6-5.

Under the current circumstances, a draw would be a decent result for the hosts. That is hardly what the fans and board expected after a double cup-winning campaign last season and an outlay of 120 million euros during the summer. Goals have proved a problem for Real so far this season and Karim Benzema, in whom so much trust has been placed, has only two in his past 18 games.

"Basel are a very good team, they play football that I like; they're dynamic, good in defence and attack. They're a dangerous team -- last season they beat Chelsea. They've started the season earlier and they're in good physical condition," Ancelotti said Monday; Basel have played eight league games to Real's three.

The Italian also stated that he will not change his approach in Europe despite Real's shortfalls in the league. If he is to be believed -- and Ancelotti is not a devotee of mind games -- then Alvaro Arbeloa will start, along with Pepe, Fabio Coentrao and Benzema up top. The Real coach has already confirmed that under-fire captain Iker Casillas will be between the starting goalkeeper.

"Tomorrow the team will be the same," he said -- words that will have been greeted with far more enthusiasm in Basel than the Bernabeu. Beelzebub will ice skate to the office before anyone at Real listens to a word Mourinho has to say, but the precedent here is difficult to ignore.

It's only one game and Group B is hardly the toughest in the competition, but an early slipup will not be forgiven by the pro-Madrid media or an increasingly restless home crowd. After Tuesday's game, away dates at Ludogorets -- which will be like playing on a different planet for most of Real's squad -- and Anfield follow.