GC is worse than ever in the league. The cup comes at just the right time – also for the struggling FCZ.
The foggy (or smoky?) Letzigrund
GC coach Thomas Oral doesn’t yet know of any other stadium in Switzerland.
Marc Schumacher/freshfocus
11 points from 16 games, winless in 8 games, bottom of the Super League table. GC is also unable to find its way in the first season after the US takeover – on the contrary: never before since the Super League was founded have the record champions been in a worse position after the first 16 league games. Not even in the 2018/19 relegation season, when they had 17 points.
Live notice
Open the box
Box zuklappen
You can follow all games in the Cup round of 16 live on SRF:
Tuesday, December 3rd
- Langenthal – Biel (6:55 p.m., without comment on srf.ch/sport)
- GC – FCZ (19:55, srf.ch/sport)
Wednesday, December 4th
- Schaffhausen – YB (7:55 p.m., srf.ch/sport)
- Basel – Sion (8:10 p.m., SRF two)
- Yverdon – Lugano (20:25 Uhr, srf.ch/sport)
Thursday, December 5th
- Aarau – Etoile Carouge (19:55 Uhr, srf.ch/sport)
- Winterthur – Lausanne (8:10 p.m., SRF two)
- Bellinzona – St. Gallen (8:25 p.m., srf.ch/sport)
After all: Since Thomas Oral has been in charge of the Grasshoppers, the record champions have been unbeaten, scoring 1 point each at home against Winterthur and “away” against FCZ in a 1-1 draw. Not much changes for the German in the third game either:
- In the cup, GC will face FC Zurich again on Tuesday, three days after the league derby.
- For Oral in the third game it is the third duel with a Zurich club.
- His third game will also take place in Letzigrund. A series that will continue next weekend in the league against Yverdon.
Cup quarter-finals are no longer a given for the Grasshoppers. Only twice in the last 10 years has the competition’s record winner made it to the last eight. The Cup balance in the games with FCZ remains positive, 10 of the 15 matches with the city rivals went to GC, including the one that everyone thinks of when they remember Zurich Cup duels: the 6:5 after extra time in March 2004.
4th place, but things are simmering at FCZ
City rivals Zurich are the favorites for the 288th derby in the Cup round of 16. The club, which got off to an excellent start in the summer and was still the Super League leader on matchday 14, has now been waiting for a three-pointer for four games and has fallen back to fourth place.
In addition to the sporting decline, there are always larger and smaller quarrels. Be it the umbrella thrown by a player’s father in Zug against coach Ricardo Moniz, Cheick Condé’s refusal to sit on the bench against YB, or the 4 dismissals already. Juan José Perea alone, FCZ’s top goalscorer, has already received two dismissals. He will be allowed to play in the cup after his league ban.
Mood again in Letzigrund?
After police checks during the 1-1 draw in the league derby at the weekend ensured that the GC sector remained empty and the south curve undertook a boycott of sentiment in the first half, the duel in the cup round of 16 is likely to be particularly charged. FCZ coach Moniz announced on Saturday that they would compete with “anger”.
Trying to stylize the game as a crisis duel is probably going too far, and yet: the game could be groundbreaking for both teams. For better or worse.
Swiss
