The Ticino heat can either suffocate you or set you on fire. For FC Lugano and their embattled coach Mattia Croci-Torti, it did the latter on August 10, 2025, in front of 4,256 fervent spectators.
Under the bright summer sun at the Cornaredo, Lugano didn’t just beat reigning champions FC Basel — they exorcised a fortnight’s worth of humiliation, self-doubt, and whispers about impending collapse.
For the neutral, the scoreline read 3:1. For Lugano, it felt like 30:1.
Croci-Torti’s Moment of Truth
Before kickoff, Croci-Torti looked like a man walking a tightrope over an open fire. Lugano had suffered four straight defeats in all competitions, with a staggering 1:12 goal difference. The low point — if such a term still had meaning after losses to Sion, Cluj, and Thun — was the midweek 0:5 Conference League humiliation at the hands of NK Celje. In the fcb forum and across Swiss football media, his job was the question nobody could stop asking.
Sporting director Sebastian Pelzer tried to cool the flames before the match, stating, “We still have confidence in our squad and our staff. A change of coach is not an issue.” But in the Swiss Super League, such assurances can feel like a prelude to a guillotine’s drop.
This victory, then, was more than three points. It was, in Croci-Torti’s words, “a great answer” from his players, a “big relief” and a “liberating blow”. “This victory,” he continued, “must serve as momentum to achieve our goals.”
From the first whistle, his team played like they knew their manager’s neck was on the block.
Basel’s Disastrous First Half
Just four days earlier, Basel had looked every inch the champions, dismantling Young Boys 4:1 at St. Jakob-Park in a show of ruthless attacking fluency. But in Lugano, they were unrecognisable.
Coach Ludovic Magnin did not sugarcoat it afterward: “At least in the first half, it was a different Basel, which was no fun. I could have replaced eleven players.”
The disaster began with Philip Otele conceding what Magnin himself called a “stupid penalty” in the 20th minute. Anto Grgic, Basel’s ice-cold specialist, stepped up and buried it — his 17th consecutive successful spot-kick — and with it, Lugano had their first lead in weeks.
The champions looked rattled. Passes went astray, their usually crisp transitions broke down, and Lugano’s pressing trapped them deep. Renato Steffen, back in the starting XI after missing the Celje match, provided the one moment of quality before the break — a wickedly curling free-kick that Antonios Papadopoulos met for a bullet header and a 2:0 lead. For Papadopoulos, it was his best performance “in weeks,” a defensive rock with a goal to his name.
Basel’s halftime dressing room must have been volcanic.
Basel’s Second-Half Spark — and Collapse
Magnin made changes, introducing Albian Ajeti, who wasted no time igniting Basel’s comeback hopes. His goal in the 50th minute — a spectacular back-heeled finish — was his first of the season and easily a contender for goal of the month.
Suddenly, Basel found rhythm. Marwin Hitz pulled off two outstanding saves to keep them in touch, and in stoppage time, Anton Kade struck the crossbar in what would have been a dramatic equaliser.
With Basel pushing everyone forward in desperation, even Hitz joined a late corner. But when Lugano cleared, the empty net beckoned. One precise long ball later, the Ticino crowd erupted as the third goal rolled home, sealing a famous 3:1.
Ezgjan Alioski’s Quiet Introduction
For Lugano, there was also the small subplot of Ezgjan Alioski’s home introduction. The former Leeds United and Fenerbahçe man entered in the 64th minute, slotting into a team determined to defend and counter. The sources say little about his impact — there was no decisive moment, no game-changing tackle or assist — but his presence was another piece of Lugano’s growing depth puzzle.
Relief in Lugano, Regret in Basel
Croci-Torti’s relief was palpable. This was a united, aggressive Lugano, pressing as a block and striking with conviction. The coach praised their “unity and will to win”, urging the team to carry this energy into their daunting UEFA Conference League trip to Slovenia.
Basel, meanwhile, were left to chew over a maddening inconsistency. Two wins and two losses after four games, as Magnin admitted, is “certainly insufficient” for a club with FC Basel Champions League ambitions. “We need consistency,” he stressed — and with an upcoming Swiss Cup tie against FC Biel on August 16th, followed by a return to league duty, that will be the demand in training.
What This Means Going Forward
For Lugano, the challenge is to turn this cathartic win into sustained momentum. Pelzer was clear about the upcoming trip to Celje, where they trail 0:5 on aggregate: “As long as it’s still mathematically possible, we’ll try everything.” The Swiss Cup tie with FC Cam should offer a chance to rotate, but the league demands will not ease.
For Basel, the stakes are different but just as pressing. Transfer rumours swirl — the millions earned from summer sales could go into a 1.96m defensive enforcer like Tomas Palacios, or a striker such as Moritz Broschinski. Club captain Xherdan Shaqiri wants more “experience” in the squad, and the fcb forum is already debating whether Magnin’s methods can deliver the FC Basel Champions League qualification push fans crave.
A Match That Felt Like a Season in 90 Minutes
If you only saw the 20 min highlight package, you’d miss the tension in every tackle, the heat shimmering off the pitch, the raw noise when Grgic buried that penalty, or the way Papadopoulos’ header thudded into the net. You’d miss Hitz’s desperate dash upfield for that final corner, or the slow, rolling agony for Basel fans as Lugano’s third trickled into the empty net.
For Lugano, this was a night of resurrection. For Basel, a jolt back to the reality that being champions means everyone wants to take you down. For the rest of the Swiss Super League, it was a reminder that nothing — not even a 0:5 humiliation in Europe — is final until the next whistle blows.
doragon sports 