The Bernese Canton Derby is back, and this time it’s not just about bragging rights between city and Oberland.
Going to the game? Check out our stadium guide for the Wankdorf!
It’s a knife-edge battle of timing, fatigue, and opportunity. BSC Young Boys, Switzerland’s perennial giants, stumble into Sunday’s clash at the Wankdorf (September 28, 2025) fresh from the twin humiliations of a Swiss Cup embarrassment and a bruising midweek slog in Europe. FC Thun, meanwhile, have tasted their first domestic defeat in months — but smell the kind of blood that can only come from a distracted, fatigued rival.
The script writes itself: a city under pressure, a town with momentum, and a derby where reputations always carry a price.
The Powerhouse Under Siege
Let’s be clear: Young Boys are still Young Boys. The five-time champions of the past seven years sit fourth in the table, not 14th. Their squad remains loaded with depth, quality, and international experience. But for the first time in a long time, they look mortal.
The Cup defeat to Aarau wasn’t just a stumble — it was a humiliation. A lower-division side exposing the cracks of a complacent heavyweight. And when coach Giorgio Contini faced the cameras, his words rang hollow:
“I give no information about this game now. I think we all know the great disappointment… I am one who looks forward.”
Forward, yes — but straight into a Europa League opener that drained both legs and minds. By the time Thun arrive in Bern, YB will have logged another 90 minutes of high-intensity continental football. Fixture congestion isn’t just a cliché here; it’s a tactical opportunity for the underdog.
And the Wankdorf faithful? They’re restless. For a club that sees itself as Europe’s gatekeeper, a derby is no place for weakness.
The Underdog’s Bite
Thun are no wide-eyed tourists in the Super League. Mauro Lustrinelli has built them into a machine defined by pressing, pace, and unbreakable belief. Promotion in 2024 wasn’t supposed to lead to this — a team sitting second in the table after six rounds, unbeaten for months, and frighteningly joyful in the way they attack.
Yes, Basel finally punctured the bubble last week. A 1-3 home defeat, capped by a disastrous red card, halted their perfect start. But listen to Lustrinelli afterwards and you realise this is no fragile project:
“I welcome defeats, because they are part of a development. I therefore take this game as a lesson learned.”
That’s not damage control — it’s a man who believes in his blueprint. And his players believe too. Nine wins and two draws in 2025 before Basel? That’s not luck. That’s an identity.
For Thun, this derby isn’t just about Bernese bragging rights. It’s about kicking a neighbour when they’re wobbling, and reminding Switzerland that the Oberland can no longer be dismissed as quaint.
The Human Crossroads: Traitors, Icons, and Homecomings
No derby lives on tactics alone. This one is drenched in betrayal, reunions, and ghosts of past allegiances.
Leonardo Bertone (Thun captain): Once a YB darling, with 179 appearances in yellow-and-black, he now leads Thun with the armband. Every touch he makes at the Wankdorf will sting twice: once as a reminder of what YB produced, and again as proof of what they lost.
Marco Bürki (Thun defender): Another YB product, brother of Roman, now Thun’s cynic-in-chief. His quote ahead of Basel — “It is simply the next Super League club we are playing against in the same league” — strips the derby of romance, but adds a layer of cool, calculated steel.
Christian Fassnacht (YB winger): A legend in Bern, yes, but once a Thun player. For Oberland fans, his success in the city is salt rubbed into wounds.
Sandro Lauper (YB midfielder): Another who cut his teeth in Thun, now anchoring YB. He knows the Oberland hunger — and he knows how dangerous it can be.
And then there’s Genis Montolio’s absence. The Thun centre-back, suspended after his wild slap against Basel’s Broschinski, leaves a gaping hole in their defensive core. His absence will hurt — but also forces Thun into courage. They can’t sit back. They have to push, improvise, and trust the chaos.
Fatigue vs. Freshness: The Tactical Battleground
The derby isn’t just about emotion. It’s about energy — or the lack of it.
YB’s Strain: A Cup disaster followed by a Europa League fixture means rotations, heavy legs, and mental clutter. Contini’s squad depth is vast, but continuity isn’t. Fatigue breeds mistakes, and mistakes in derbies breed headlines.
Thun’s Preparation: Two weeks of rest before Basel, followed by a sharpener friendly against Kriens (an 8-1 demolition). They arrive at the Wankdorf fresh, primed, and with the simplicity of one target: exploit YB’s tired limbs.
Expect Thun to press high early, to suffocate a YB backline that has looked brittle in transition. Expect YB to lean on moments of individual brilliance — Chris Bedia’s rediscovered scoring form, Fassnacht’s engine — rather than collective sharpness.
This is not a derby of equals. It’s a derby of conditions. And conditions favour Thun.
Young Boys vs FC Thun H2H
Numbers don’t lie: YB own this derby. Out of 84 duels, Thun have only 14 wins. The Wankdorf, in particular, has been a graveyard for Thun hopes, with YB dishing out regular hammerings — 5-1 in 2019, 5-0 in the Cup just two years ago.
And yet, Thun’s great moments linger like folklore:
The 4-0 shocker in 2017. The eerie 1-0 “ghost game” win in 2020, when COVID kept fans away but Thun still found a way to bloody the champion’s nose.
Derbies are about memory as much as form. Thun fans will travel to Bern singing of those nights. YB fans will sing louder, trying to drown out the insecurity that their empire might, just might, be wobbling.
The Managers’ Philosophies
Mauro Lustrinelli: Four years of quiet, patient work. Continuity, youth promotion, a refusal to bankrupt the club for survival. Thun’s success is built on belief and joy — Spielfreude — and his players run like men possessed because they’re running for something real.
Giorgio Contini: In the hot seat since December 2024, tasked with keeping YB at Europe’s top table. His problem? A bloated squad, a fanbase with zero tolerance for “transition seasons,” and a Cup exit that leaves him dangling by the thinnest thread. His job isn’t on the line this Sunday — but his authority is. Lose to Thun at home, and the noise becomes deafening.
Players to Watch
Chris Bedia (YB): 7 goals in five competitive matches earlier this season, but disappeared in the Cup humiliation. A derby goal could redeem him.
Leonardo Bertone (Thun): Scored against Basel despite surgery doubts. The derby is his stage, his chance to reassert his Bernese identity.
Ethan Meichtry (Thun): Just 20, newly professional, already dripping with Oberland pride. Derby energy could launch him into folklore.
Loris Benito (YB captain): Veteran defender, bridge between eras. Needs to steady the ship after Aarau chaos.
FC Thun Fixtures: What’s at Stake
For YB, it’s not just points. It’s survival of reputation. Lose this derby, at home, after a Cup exit, after Europe, and suddenly the whispers of “decline” turn into roars.
For Thun, it’s belief crystallised. Win, and the table doesn’t just show second place — it shows legitimacy. It shows that the Oberland can stand toe-to-toe with the capital and bloody its nose.
Prediction and Provocation
Elland Road has its curses, La Bombonera its madness, but the Wankdorf on derby day carries its own unique intensity. Normally, it drowns underdog hopes. This time, with YB’s legs heavy and their pride dented, the door creaks open.
Thun won’t dominate possession. They won’t outclass YB man-for-man. But they can out-run them, out-press them, and out-believe them. And sometimes, in derbies, that’s enough.
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