Match Day 2 - Swansea City v. St Gallen Liberty Stadium - Kickoff 20:05 Following Swansea’s amazing 0-3 win over Valencia at the Mestalla a couple of weeks ago, next up in the Europa League is St Gallen of Switzerland at the Liberty stadium on Thursday night, kick off at 20:05. St Gallen qualified for the Europa League by finishing 3rd in the Swiss Super League in 2012/13 behind FC Basel and Grasshoppers of Zurich. They entered the competition at the 4th qualifying round stage (when Swansea played Petrolul Ploiesti) and defeated Spartak Moscow to reach the group phase. After drawing 1-1 at home they beat the Russians 4-2 in Moscow to go through on aggregate 5-3. Their first game in group A was against Kuban Krasnodar at home which they won 2-0. In their domestic league this season they currently lie in 4th place after 9 games behind... FC Basel, Grasshoppers of Zurich and Young Boys of Berne. If you want to impress your friends with your excellent knowledge of Swiss football, then Switzerland’s other representative in the Europa League group phase is FC Thun who have battled their way through from the 2nd qualifying round beating Chikhura of Georgia, Hacken of Sweden and Partizan of Serbia. They have history.... Having been founded in 1879, FC St Gallen are the oldest existing club in Swiss football AND in continental Europe. Not a lot of people know that. Their current manager is 45-year-old Jeff Saibene from Luxembourg who played for his country 64 times and has managed teams in Switzerland - Thun, Aarau and now St Gallen. We can expect to see St Gallen play in their usual away strip of green shirts and black shorts for their visit to the Liberty. St Gallen play their home games at the AFG arena which has a similar capacity to that of the Liberty at just under 20,000. You’re dying to know what AFG stands for aren’t you. Well, it’s Arbonia-Forster-Gruppe who are the sponsors and they specialise in windows, doors, heating technology, sanitary equipment, profile systems, kitchens and surface technology. So there. Players to look out for The main danger man would appear to be Goran Karanovic (number 11) who has scored 9 goals this season including two in that 4-2 victory in Moscow and another in the 2-0 win over Kuban Krasnodar. He’s a 6’ 1” 25-year-old-striker with joint Serbian/Swiss nationality. Another player who seems to put the ball in the net is Alhassane Keita (number 9), a 30-year-old striker from Guinea although my limited research would suggest he often replaces Karanovic off the bench. We also need to be wary of their equivalent of Michu - Marco Mathys (number 27) - a 26-year-old attacking midfielder who likes to play in the hole behind the striker and has notched up a couple of goals in this years Europa League. Possible line-ups as follows: ................................FC ST GALLEN: ...............................Lopar (Switz) Mutsch (Lux), Montandon (Switz), Besle (Fr), Lenjani (Alb) Vitkieviez (Switz), Nater (Tunisia), Janjatovic (Serbia/Germany), Rodriguez (Switz) ...................Mathys (Switz) .........................Karanovic (Serbia/Switz) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ..........................Bony (Ivory Coast) Routledge (Eng)..........Michu (Spn)..............Dyer (Eng) .......................Shelvey (Eng)........Britton (Eng) Davies (Wales)....Amat (Spn)......Chico (Spn).....Rangel (Spn) ..................................Vorm (Neth) ....................................SWANSEA CITY: Given the relative standings of the two teams and their respective leagues, Swansea must surely be favourites to win this game. However, a draw would be a great result for St Gallen given their win over Kuban Krasnodar, so it’s not beyond possibility they will come and park the bus to take home a point. It could be a frustrating night if we don’t score an early goal. I'm going Swansea 1 St Gallen 0. ST GALLEN, THE PLACE It’s situated in eastern Switzerland about 40 miles east of Zurich and 30 miles north-west of Liechtenstein. It’s also placed not far off the shores of the Bodensee, aka Lake Constance, and the gateway to the Appenzell Alps to the south. It has a population of around 160,000 inhabitants and is about 700 metres above sea level (for our Danish readers that’s over 4 times higher than the highest point in Denmark - oxygen masks required). The main tourist attraction is the Abbey of St Gall which is a UNESCO world heritage site and its renowned library contains books dating back to the 9th century. (For our Danish readers that’s 1000 years before the first book appeared in Denmark). Aw..It's pretty... http://www.bestourism.com/img/items/big/7430/St-Gallen_City-s-street_12034.jpg And they have nice trains... http://www.sbb.ch/content/sbb/en/de...ooler.completeimage.553.jpg/1300645648803.jpg I'm guessing this is the library with the 9th century books... http://www.akris.ch/sites/default/files/st-gallen-2_0.jpeg I want to go... http://www.wfc2011.ch/weblounge-previews/a0167228-7ad8-45c4-86b7-a6afdd6cc853?style=highresolution What's going on here then?... http://www.bestofhotels.ch/wp_uploads/2011/06/festspiele_st_gallen_032.jpg Cycle Path 4 from Mumbles to St Gallen - set off now to arrive by December 12th... http://www.roberts-1.com/t/b06/a/s/i/ss/d/08015-bicycle_route_signs_near_St_Gallen_800x566.jpg Awesome..... http://www.about.ch/cantons/appenzell-innerrhoden/saentis/saentis-2_big.jpg
Aswan, this is a great thread but I have to say I'm very disappointed your mate didn't do it instead. I would have loved to have seen his view on this team
I'm looking forward to this match. It's going to a be a lot tougher than the first fixture turned out to be in Valencia. The Swans are in the driving seat in the group so I would take a scrappy 1-0 now
That's same arrangement PGF and I have for the Premier league games. I've got the Southampton one ready but this ones better............ You bastard
A game we should win on our own pitch, we play a higher standard of football but that does not mean we should take them lightly, we will be without ash and rangel at the back so we must play more forward in this game and i hope we play the strongest team possible and take advantage of playing at home....3-0 win..
I agree with you all good construction, good structure that can hold water. A modest home win, and a clean sheet to go with it
Swans' to struggle here,with perhaps a little complacency creeping in post Valencia. Well,we do have form in that respect. A home win is anticipated,but I wouldn't be surprised at any other result. Great thread,aswan.
For what it's worth we have got Portuguese match officials Group A, 03 October 2013, 21:05 CET Stadium: Swansea Stadium, Swansea (WAL) Swansea City - St Gallen Referee: Duarte Gomes (POR) Assistant Referee 1: Tiago Trigo (POR) Assistant Referee 2: Venâncio Raposo Tomé (POR) Additional Assistant Referee 1: João Capela (POR) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Hugo Miguel (POR) Fourth Official: António Godinho (POR) UEFA Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR) UEFA Delegate: Gerhard Sager (SWE) I hope Rune Pederson is Norway Jack in disguise
I don't think any one will get carried away prematch , they are unknown to perhaps us but the coaching staff will have watched them for sure .The team and more so the manager will want to gain points quickly so we can concentrate perhaps more on the league so an initial cautious approach to this game but with a winning mentality at home should be enough. Ash & Rangel will be missed but I believe Chico (if he can curb some of his more exuberant characteristics in his play) will start to show a more commanding presence which he'll have to do if Amat is along side him for the foreseeable future. St Gallens have scored highly recently with a 3 / 4 goals scored per game hopefully we should be comfortable in defending but a set piece or a defensive mistake could cost us .It would be nice to have 6 points tucked away by friday ,not only for this competition but giving confidence for the game Sunday.
Swansea City 'technically excellent' says St Gallen boss Saibene Thursday, October 03, 2013South Wales Evening PostFollow SWANSEA City go into their Europa League clash with St Gallen tonight (8.05) as favourites to finish top of Group A, according to the Swiss side's coach Jeff Saibene. After recording heavy qualifying round wins against Malmo and Petrolul Ploiesti, Michael Laudrup's men began the pool stage with a shock 3-0 win over Valencia at the Mestalla. ​ Heads up Michu (right) trains with team-mate Chico ahead of the Europa League clash with St Gallen. That saw them surge to the summit of the early standings, ahead of St Gallen on goal difference after they beat Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar 2-0. And Saibene reckons Swansea are now frontrunners to win the group and qualify for the tournament's knockout stages. "For us this is a huge challenge, we are playing against an established Premier League team who are technically excellent," he said. "We are outsiders in this game, but we have come here to give it everything. "The Valencia win was a surprise, it was a very convincing win and that shows the strength of the team. "Maybe Valencia were not on form at the time, but that result shows the high level at which Swansea are playing at. "They are favourites to win the group." While Swansea go into the game after a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal last Saturday, St Gallen are on a 12-game unbeaten run. They reached the group stages after defeating renowned side Spartak Moscow over two legs and are also in good form domestically. In striker Goran Kranovic they also possess a forward who has scored nine times already this season. That total includes two second-leg strikes against Moscow and three in a Swiss Super League clash triumph over Lucerne three days later. "It wasn't just the game against Kuban that has given us confidence, we also had two games against Spartak Moscow," said Saibene. "When the draw was made we weren't really given much chance of getting through, but we beat them in a good way and that has given us confidence. "Now we've had 12 games unbeaten, so obviously we'll go out there and show what we can do. "We do have to adapt to our opponents, we can't be that naive. "We've done lots of research and we've seen lots of videos, but we are going to go out and play our own game." Swansea are again likely to ring the changes tonight, with a Premier League game against Southampton following on Sunday. Captain Ashley Williams misses out with an ankle problem, Garry Monk has an issue with his knee, while Angel Rangel is also doubtful because of an ankle injury. Pablo Hernandez is still nursing a thigh complaint, while fellow winger Roland Lamah won't feature because of a toe problem. "They don't play like a typical British team, they are more technical," added Saibene. "Maybe that's down to Michael Laudrup's influence. They are a very good team, I think that's been proven so far. "We are not going to fear anyone, although we respect the whole team. "Michu is a good player and Swansea are very good going forward. "We just have to concentrate on our own game. Our team will be quite hard to judge by the British public. "The Europa League is unpredictable and anyone can beat anyone.
Hurrah. Been waiting for that. That's the first time I've seen or heard us described as and established Premier League side. Happy days.
It's on live over here, but will be watching a DVR of the match later in the day. I think that we are going to see a solid partnership form between Chico and Amat. This will be good for us, them and the Spanish international squad. If they perform well for us in Europe and the Prem then they should be candidates for selection internationally - hopeful but doubtful maybe, but they would earn consideration. Good news - Monk is not available for selection, as he is also reported to be carrying a knock. This means that Alfei is on the bench at least. You may consider this a bad thing, but quite frankly if the kid is good enough he's old enough and look at Ben Davies - I'm sure Alfei would not let us down.
Torrential rain here this afternoon and the forecast is for it to continue to do so into the evening so could be a leveller, expect a few freebies may cry off when they face the prospect of getting a little wet. Difficult to predict the outcome, St Gallen are in good form but hopeful we can overcome them without sustaining any injuries and for that reason I wouldn't play Pablo or risk any others that have niggles.
Apparently, there's loads of em about. I was talking to a guy who said they've been in Wind Street since before 11am on the pop. What a great atmosphere that'll be. Loads of drunk Swiss fans on a European Tour!
