The Gruyère district is the setting for FC Lugano U21’s match on Maundy Thursday, as they take on the home side Bulle at the Stade de Bouleyres.
The match, which kicked off under the Fribourg sun, sees the young Bianconeri – fresh from a ‘forced’ rest period due to the postponement of their home fixture against Zurich U21, caused by numerous absences in the Swiss national youth teams on both sides – line up in their usual formation, albeit with a few initial changes to the starting line-up. Christian Raffa – who put in a positive performance with the first team in last week’s friendly against Taverne, in which he hit the post – took up the centre-forward role, supported by Jason Parente and the five-man midfield line. At the back, Alessio Chiesa returns to the starting line-up alongside Rron Krueziu and Aleksandar Radić.
The first incident comes in the sixth minute, when Yassin Sbai plays a long ball to Parente, who shakes off his marker on the byline, moves towards the six-yard box and goes down, possibly having been touched by a home defender. Referee Maxime Odiet saw nothing irregular and play continued. The two sides, level on 28 points prior to this encounter, did not open up much and maintained their positions on the pitch, resulting in a largely balanced first half, in which Diego Mina was called into action twice in quick succession just past the quarter-hour mark. First, he comfortably saved Liburn Azemi’s free-kick and then parried the home player’s subsequent dangerous attempt with his feet.
Opportunities to break the deadlock were few and far between, and could be counted on the fingers of one hand. In the 33rd minute, it was Raffa’s turn to try to create one through a determined ball recovery in the attacking third, followed by a left-footed shot that went wide of the goal. Four minutes later, Gjan Ajdin delivered a pinpoint cross for Ilija Maslarov, who found the net with a diagonal finish. The joy is short-lived, however, as second assistant Raphaël Martos immediately raises his flag, signalling an offside position for the Ticino captain. At the other end of the pitch, on the stroke of the 45th minute, Mina keeps a clean sheet with a crucial save to deny Rinjala Raherinaivo the lead.
The second half begins with a change in the Lugano line-up: David Piffero replaces Raffa as the attacking forward. And it is the newcomer who, in the 55th minute, comes close to opening the scoring. Launched forward by Yassin Sbai, the number 9 fails to hit the target from a tight angle. As the match hurtled towards its final stages, the moment that set it alight came in the 71st minute. Home captain Azemi found himself inexplicably isolated on the edge of the penalty area and, seizing the opportunity, took aim and fired a diagonal shot into the far top corner, leaving the blameless Mina with no chance as the Swiss-French side took the lead.
Forced to bolster the attack, the visiting coaching staff brought on Rafael Frizzi to add more weight to the forward line. The substitutions made by Jean-Philippe Labeau, already exploited to the full on the occasion of the first goal, also yielded the second. The clock showed the 82nd minute and Dennis Wyder was clever and quick to be on hand to tap Mina’s parry into the back of the net. The 2-0 scoreline was a heavy blow for the Lugano side, who thus ended their pre-Easter campaign with their tenth defeat of the season.
Stuck on 28 points, Lugano U21 now sit eleventh in the table following this setback. Their next official fixture is scheduled for Wednesday 8 April 2026 at 16:30 at the Al Maglio Sports Centre in Canobbio, where they will face Zurich U21 in the rescheduled match from matchday twenty-four.
At the end of the ninety minutes, manager Andrea Vitali commented on his players’ performance: “We struggled a bit, finding it tough at times and struggling to create any real danger. We have to accept the result, knowing that in this league we’ll have to fight like mad until the very last second. The disallowed goal by Ilija Maslarov? It was a peculiar incident and even after reviewing it on video, it didn’t look offside to us. However, sometimes it happens to us and sometimes to our opponents. Certainly, a goal would have changed the course of the match, giving us more confidence and causing Bulle a bit of nervousness. But, as I said, we have to accept what happened on the pitch. Zurich U21? The aim will certainly be to get back to winning ways. To achieve that, however, we’ll have to earn it.”
MATCH REPORT
Hoval Promotion League, Matchday 25
Stade de Bouleyres, Bulle – 343 spectators
FC BULLE – FC LUGANO U21 2:0 (0:0)
GOALS: 71’ Azemi 1:0, 83’ Wyder 2:0.
FC BULLE (4-2-1-3): Zbinden; Dind, Kuzmanović, Monney, Behrami; Correa, Dema (70’ Mbadinga); Azemi (89’ Martina); Giordano (82’ Wyder), Raherinaivo (70’ Alounga), Ukmata (82’ Petignat).
Substitutes: Debons, Murith.
Manager: Jean-Philippe Lebeau.
FC LUGANO U21 (3-5-1-1): Mina; Krueziu, Radić, Chiesa; Peverelli (82' Tiraboschi), Ajdin (79' Puddu), Maslarov, Amirzade, Sbai; Parente (79' Frizzi); Raffa (46' Piffero).
Substitutes: Pellanda, Chakor, Gecaj.
Manager: Andrea Vitali.
REFEREE: Maxime Odiet.
ASSISTANTS: Quentin Christe and Raphaël Martos.
BOOKINGS: 15' Chiesa, 18' Parente, 26' Dema, 90' +5' Behrami, 90' +5' Tiraboschi.
Men's U21April 2, 2026