UEFA Champions League – Half time Review: CFR 1907 Cluj versus F.C Basel
Two of the minnows in this year’s UEFA Champions League started off their bid to progress to the next stage of the tournament by playing out an interesting first half at Cluj’s home stadium. Cluj were the first team to press on after the start of the match
as the crowd urged them on to attack. They got their first corner in the sixth minute of the match but nothing concrete came of it was a poorly taken set piece.
Cluj and Basel both locked horns in the important part of the midfield area but Cluj continuously came out on top and forced their first free kick of the match in the 8th minute. The Romanian champions were on fire in the opening minutes and were
playing some sensationally outstanding football. At times, they looked like a seasoned European outfit as their midfielders retained possession beautifully. All across the field, their players made the right decisions consistently and frustrated the Basel
defence in doing so.
Both the teams are not that renowned for their European Cup pedigree, thus their admission into this year’s UEFA Champions League competition came as a surprise for all the other giants participating in their group. Cluj’s front two of Bastos and Traore
were scourge for the Basel defence early on. The Swiss champion’s couldn’t cope with their understanding and frequently mismarked the two strikers.
Cluj and Basel are both teamed together in a single group with Bayern Munich and Roma. The two teams who hail from Germany and Italy respectively have got several years of good European experience behind them unlike their group fellows from Romania and Switzerland.
In the 8th minute of the match, Rada rose above all the defenders inside the Basel penalty area to give his team the lead. The set piece through which this goal came from was a well delivered one from Culio, who was featuring for the Romanian
giants in their strong midfield setup. Rada gave his side a one goal to nil lead through his header.
12th minute of the first half saw another goal for the home side. Cluj broke from within their half and rushed up field. Culio showed physical determination against Abraham in the midfield area before running into the Basel penalty area. The midfielder
then played a ground ball to Traore, who finished the move off with a clinical finish.
In the 25th minute of the match Cristian Panin was the first man to get booked as he brought down Marco Streller in central midfield. Cluj surprisingly played a high defensive line throughout the first half, although this can be risky sometimes,
their defenders executed this tactic with superb efficiency as Basel’s target man Alexander Frei was caught offside throughout the first half on several occasions.
Cluj dominated the game further after gaining confidence following their two goal lead. Basel however did look dangerous at times on the counter attack, their player Shaqiri was a thorn in Cluj’s defence throughout the first half but the Swiss international
failed to make a sustainable impact on the game.
Till the 32nd minute of the match, Basel were so intimidated by Cluj’s start that they had not succeeded in registering a shot on target. In the 35th minute of the match, Basel finally got their first shot on target. It came from a
linkup between Shaqiri and Inkoom, the shot forced Cluj’s goalkeeper into a fine save but the ball went out for a corner. The ensuing set piece was a disappointing one for Basel nonetheless as Cluj gathered possession once again.
Basel did push on much more in the dying minutes of the first half but the Swiss found it extremely hard to break down the resilient Cluj defence. At the end of the first half, the score line was 2-0 to the home team.
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