With one final hurdle to navigate in the Champions League qualifying rounds, Young Boys welcome Ferencvaros to the Wankdorf Stadium for the first leg of their playoff tie on Wednesday night.
The Swiss giants knocked Cluj out of the tournament in the previous round to make it this far, while Ferencvaros edged past Slavia Prague in the third qualifying round.
Match preview
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David Wagner's tenure in charge of Young Boys has started in a largely positive manner, with the former Huddersfield Town and Schalke 04 coach two for two in Europe after sending Slovan Bratislava and Cluj packing in the previous Champions League qualifying rounds.
Young Boys had to rely on a 3-2 second-leg victory to get over the line against the former, while a 1-1 draw in the first leg with Cluj preceded a 3-1 second-leg triumph for the Swiss side, who advanced 4-2 on aggregate thanks to goals from Jordan Siebatcheu (two) and Nicolas Ngamaleu.
The 15-time Super League champions have not enjoyed the perfect start to their title defence, though, claiming one win, one draw and one defeat from their opening three games before their bid to regain the Swiss Cup took precedence over the weekend.
A morale-boosting 4-1 success over minnows FC Littau is just what the doctor ordered for Wagner's men as they bid to enter the Champions League proper for only the second time ever, but they were sent packing in the playoff round three times between 2016 and 2020, with the safety net of the Europa League ready and waiting should Young Boys falter at the final hurdle once more.
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Ferencvaros displayed their dominance against Prishtina and Zalgiris to set up a third-round battle with Czech champions Slavia Prague, and the tie looked to be beyond Jindrich Trpisovsky's men after the Hungarian side stormed into a 2-0 first-leg lead.
However, the fortress that is the Sinobo Stadium saw Ferencvaros become unstuck in a 1-0 second-leg defeat courtesy of Lukas Masopust's winner, but the 10 men of Ferencvaros held firm to advance 2-1 on aggregate and keep their hopes of a second successive group-stage appearance alive.
Barcelona, Juventus and Dynamo Kiev quickly sent Ferencvaros packing in the 2020-21 Champions League, but Peter Stoger's men are only 180 minutes away from an immediate return to the promised land, and they warmed up for this game in the perfect manner with a 4-1 success over Mezokovesd Zsory in the Hungarian top flight.
Wednesday's game will mark the first time that Young Boys and Ferencvaros have locked horns in a competitive fixture, but the visitors do not boast the strongest of records against Swiss sides, winning just two of their nine previous clashes with such clubs.
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Team News
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Young Boys midfielder Michel Aebischer - who came off the bench to net in the cup at the weekend - will miss the first leg due to an accumulation of bookings, while centre-back Mohamed Camara will sit out the return leg if he is cautioned on Wednesday.
Aebischer's spot in midfield should be filled by Vincent Sierro, who also found the back of the net against Littau, although former Southampton youngster Alexandre Jankewitz is another option for Wagner.
Veteran goalkeeper Guillaume Faivre will act as the last line of defence while David von Ballmoos nurses a hamstring injury, while captain Fabian Lustenberger, Sandro Lauper and Jean-Pierre Nsame are other notable absentees for the hosts.
Ferencvaros left-back Eldar Civic will take his place on the naughty step after being sent off in the second leg against Slavia Prague, so 18-year-old Dominik Csontos should fill in at left-back with Dinamo Zagreb loanee Marijan Cabraja not on the squad list.
Centre-back Samy Mmaee was withdrawn at half time at the Sinobo Stadium through injury and he will miss the first leg, but Endre Botka quickly recovered from the minor issue which forced him off in the second leg of the third round.
Igor Kharatin is also walking a tightrope and will miss the home leg if he picks up a booking here, while Franck Boli's brace at the weekend has put him in contention for a start up top in place of Tokmac Nguen.
Young Boys possible starting lineup:
Faivre; Hefti, Camara, Zesiger, Garcia; Fassnacht, Sierro, Pereira, Ngamaleu; Siebatcheu, Elia
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Botka, Blazic, Kovacevic, Csontos; Kharatin, Zachariassen, Laidouni; Zubkov, Boli, Uzini
We say: Young Boys 1-1 Ferencvaros
Ferencvaros are yet to keep a clean sheet away from home in this season's Champions League, and the losses of Mmaee and Civic could yet prove key in Wednesday's first leg.
Young Boys have numerous selection concerns of their own to worry about, however, and we can see the visitors claiming a respectable draw before next week's decider.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Young Boys win with a probability of 49.17%. A win for Ferencvaros had a probability of 26.49% and a draw had a probability of 24.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Young Boys win was 1-0 with a probability of 10%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.53%) and 2-0 (8.28%). The likeliest Ferencvaros win was 0-1 (6.95%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.5%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Young Boys would win this match.
