Buckle your seatbelts, stow your trays and we’re off to Basel.
In the words of one of our former managers, we go again. Another Thursday night adventure, another stamp in the passport and another chance to stock up on some pre-Christmas duty frees. It’s all go in the European elite but at least this one’s at a proper time.
We’re in Switzerland, which means spending more than should be necessary at this time of the year. We’re playing in Basel, a city close to France and Germany, which in turn means there’s been a few wars fought there over the centuries. Their team have the biggest support in Switzerland and they’ve caused a few problems lately. Why we keep coming up against such annoyances is a mystery and why it happens from a country that hasn’t fired a shot in anger for two hundred years is a bigger one.
They’ve also got the biggest ground in the country, so we’ve got a few more tickets this time. Roger Federer supports them. Basel have won the Swiss league 21 times and the Swiss double last season. Currently they’re third, just above Young Boys and we had enough trouble with them. They’re also 24th in the Europa League table, 21 places and six points behind us. It’s a strange league.
They’ve got a load of totally obscure players who probably make chocolate and watches in their day jobs and will no doubt put up the best performances of their careers. I suppose we’ll have a few of ours rested and a few more getting a chance and don’t be surprised if one of them falls down a mountain or gets run over by a herd of cows, or something equally unlikely but totally Villa. You know that Morgan Rogers will be playing and Harvey Elliott won’t. The other nine plus whoever comes on will still be enough to win and take our next step towards ultimate triumph.
That’s the last of the Continental travels until next year, when it gets a bit more interesting.
