Despite good signs, GC were knocked out of the Champions League in 1996

memorable

November 20, 1996: GC are in contention to advance to the quarter-finals ahead of their penultimate Champions League group stage match against Glasgow Rangers. But everything that could go wrong did go wrong that night.

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Rangers' egos have been bruised as Rangers manager Christian Gross sought to warn his players ahead of their penultimate group game. On September 11, the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League season kicked off, and the Zurich team defeated the Zurich champion team 3-0 at the Hard Tower Stadium.

But Gross knows how dangerous a humiliated big club can be. He tried to suppress the euphoria. After an opening win against Rangers and sensational wins at Ajax Amsterdam and Auxerre, the Hoopers need just a point at Ibrox Park to advance to the quarter-finals One final. The premise is that the favored Ajax also defeats Auxerre at home. A tempting starting point.

Christian Gross tried in vain to contain the excitement.Image: KEYSTONE

For the GC, everything initially went as planned. The team around captain Mats Glenn had no problem withstanding the furious onslaught from Rangers. Zurichers appear irreverent, courageous, confident and focused. Glasgow are left with few forwards: suspended playmaker Paul Gascoigne and injured striker Brian Laudrup are missing here and there. The crowd soon fell silent and the crowd of 34,192 sold out. After an early goal from Auxerre, everything went to plan again in Amsterdam. Shortly before half-time, Tijani Babangida scored to make it 1-1.

After the break, Rangers took more and more control of the game. GC now considers director Murat Yakin and striker Viorel Moldovan unavailable due to suspension. Kubilay Türkyilmaz struggled to keep the ball in the frontcourt on his own. The pressure is mounting. Nearly an hour later, bad news came from the Amsterdam Arena: Auxerre was leading again.

Annoying bad decisions

At GC there was still little progress so the Scots launched their next attack. In the 65th minute, Dutchman Peter van Watson broke into the penalty area and shot the ball into the hands of GC full-back Pascal Thule.

Referee Laszlo Wagner immediately pointed out the penalty spot without any hesitation. «This is an incomprehensible decision. “You can't have surgery so soon,” Captain Glenn said angrily after the game.

Pascal Thüler's cards are out, but is he really ready to take a penalty?gif: youtube/s Miller

Rangers veteran Ally McCoist transformed with ease. Things got worse for the Swiss champion. Just 7 minutes later, McCoist made it 2-0 when he caught GC goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler's goal after a counterattack. The noise at Ibrox Park is now deafening.

Ellie McCoist celebrates after taking a 1-0 lead. Of course, he gets a warning for taking off his jersey.Image source: Associated Press

The final phase of the turmoil has begun. GC kept things moving forward when referee Wagner compensated for the penalty decision against the Hopps when Tier Kilmaz was lightly touched in the box, awarding the penalty after the Natty striker's ridiculous turn Penalty kick. Glen charged in with a deafening whistle but failed due to Rangers goalkeeper Andy Goram.

Two minutes later, hope appeared again: newly signed youngster Jan Berger converted Glenn's cross into the back of the net for Zurich's goal. GC tried everything again, but instead of equalizing the score, top performers Bernt Haas and Tukiermaz received yellow cards. You were suspended for the final group game against Ajax.

GC also awarded the second match point

With Ajax also losing to Auxerre, Grasshopper's starting spot is no longer available. GC now need a point against the Netherlands to advance to the quarterfinals. “We have a second match point left,” coach Christian Gross said, but he too was disappointed.

Gorham saved Glenn's penalty kick.gif: youtube/s millar

“We controlled the game, the opponent controlled it for more than an hour, and after 0-1 we lost our composure and organization in defense,” complained Pascal Zuberbuhler. “Typical football,” murmured head coach Erich Vogel, while Mats Gren was also annoyed: “The game was almost too quiet, nothing happened, there was no highlight in the game, for the spectators Almost boring.”

After Scotland took the lead, the heat between the two teams gradually heated up. “The game became hectic, the crowd woke up, the opponents went crazy and we could no longer react,” said the captain, who was naturally annoyed at his missed penalty. “I did something you shouldn't do as a penalty taker. I wanted to shoot into the left corner but changed my mind on the run-up.”

Nonetheless, Glen also immediately looked to the future: “Even a draw wouldn't have helped us much because of the win at Auxerre. Now we just have to score at home in the last game against Ajax That’s it.” But it’s still a pipe dream. The Hoopers had to bury their quarter-final dreams two weeks later when they lost 1-0 thanks to a goal from Patrick Kluivert.

After losing 0-1 to Ajax, the GC players were devastated.Image: KEYSTONE

Coach showed flu symptoms and three players didn't even fly to Tenerife: Switzerland's national team faces personnel shortages ahead of their match against European champions Spain. But multiple absences can also be an opportunity.

The Swiss national football team is currently in great need of improvisational talent. Or as Natty coach Murat Yakin puts it: Creativity. When naming the squad for the two Nations League matches against Serbia and Spain, Yakin had to rely on players who had been absent from the national team circle for a long time or who had never been in the international team at all.