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At Swiss champions FC Basel, they want to settle matters early on. Captain Marco Streller: "We'll try to score in the first minutes"

Even before the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad arrived at St. Jakob-Park for their final pre-match practice, FC Basel head coach Murat Yakin and team captain Marco Streller held a press conference ahead of tomorrow night's Europa League contest: "A very difficult match, very physical and tactical on both sides, and hardly any mistakes were made, by either side," Yakin related concerning last week's first leg at Bloomfield Stadium. "We want to advance to the next stage and I think that at home we can do that. The way the match starts will have a big influence on how it develops. We'll also have to see how Maccabi play. We're taking into account that it may go into extra time, but we'll try to finish it off before that".

Basel captain Marco Streller, who missed the first leg through injury, gave his impression of the situation: "I saw the first leg on the telly, it was a very tactical affair. Before the match the coach shared some of his thoughts with me and my impression is that the team delivered on what he asked of them. As for the result, well, it's a very good one for us because it leaves us with all options open to advance to the next stage".

As for tomorrow night's match, Streller added: "To get past us, Maccabi will have to score, unless of course it comes down to a penalty shoot-out. I assume they'll get out there tomorrow and try to score. We're very excited about the match and we'll simply have to see how we play it. Maccabi are a strong side and they got through a very tough group, but at home we'll have to win the match in regulation time and advance to the next stage. We'll try to score early on so that Maccabi will have to open up. That will make it easier for us".

Yakin revealed very little about the formation he intends to start off with tomorrow night but he did say in closing: "We could play in several different formations but at the end of the day what I care about is getting to the next stage. They'll be no surprises tomorrow, Maccabi know how we play. I'm not going to tell you today how I intend to play tomorrow. Streller is very important to us for this match and not just because of the goals he scores. When he's out on the pitch it influences the other players too".