With ninety minutes left in the regular season almost all the verdicts are settled. Basel, Servette, Lucerne, YB and Lugano will play in the "Championship group" along with a sixth team that could be Zurich, Lausanne or St. Gallen. Everything will be decided on Monday, April 21, depending on how the games end: YB-Zurich; Lausanne-Lugano and St. Gallen-Sion.
IN 2024 BASEL AND LUCERNE OUT
Last year the final poule (remember that points won in the 33 regular days remain valid) was won by YB, ahead of Lugano, Servette, Zurich, St. Gallen and Winterthur. Lucerne and Basel, among others, did not take part.
31 POINTS IN THE FIRST LEG 18 IN THE RETURN LEG
Thanks to the point obtained Sunday in Cornaredo against the Sangallese, the HCL players qualified for the final round with one round to go. And this despite a slowdown in the 2025 cruising pace. In December Steffen and co. closed the first leg in the lead with 31 points ahead of Basel and Lausanne (30). In the return leg the best team was the Rhinelanders (28 points) ahead of YB (27), Servette (23), Lucerne (22), Zurich (20), St. Gallen (19), Lugano and GC (18), Yverdon (16), Winterthur and Lausanne (14), and Sion (10).
SEVENTH DRAW OF THE SEASON
Sunday's draw was the seventh obtained by Lugano this season. The others had come at the end of matches against St. Gallen (2 times), Sion, Zurich, GC (2) and Basel. In the last championship there had been four matches ended with "x" while in the 2022/23 season there were 12.
FIRST SEAL FOR MARQUES
Against the St. Galleners, Martin Marques (21) netted his first Super League goal of the season. He had also scored in the Conference (against HJK Helsinki) and in the Swiss Cup (at Brühl). Last year the Portuguese fullback scored one goal in the league (at Winterthur) and one in the Cup (at Gunzwil).
STEFFEN RETURNS TO ASSIST
Also back in the statistics is Renato Steffen who provided the beautiful assist for the HCL goal. It is his fourth assist in this league, but the last one was on the fifth day for Aliseda's goal in the match drawn in Zurich. Steffen also has three assists to his credit in Europe (2 against Celje in Thun and 1 with Partizan.
ONLY TWO POINTS AGAINST SG
This year, Enrico Maassen's team is the one that on the results level has given Lugano the most trouble. In the three direct clashes there have been two draws and one defeat. Against YB and Servette the points collected were three, four with Basel, Sion and Zurich, five with GC, six with Yverdon and as many as nine with Lucerne and Winterthur.
USUAL HCL POSSESSION
Sunday's game was characterized by great balance although the ball possession (57%) and the number of passes (482 with an accuracy of 81%) speak in favor of the hosts.
ONLY FIVE SHOTS IN THE TWO DOORS
In overall shots, Görtler and his teammates were favored (12 to 10). Surprising is the low number of conclusions in the mirrors of the two goals: 3 to 2 for Lugano, including goals. Five shots hit are few: it happened only with Yverdon in the season. Apart from the exceptional game in Sion on September 22 that ended on zero to zero with only one conclusion in the goal!
FCL BETTER IN CONTRASTS
The number of contrasts was high: the HCL players won 39 against their opponents' 37. Ticino superiority also in aerial duels (16 to 12).
FOR THE THIRD TIME NO YELLOW
Fifteen fouls committed by the Eastern Swiss compared to 10 whistled for the Ticinese. Two cautioned among the guests and none in Lugano. It happened only two other times with Winterthur and GC always in Cornaredo.