FC Thun Bernese Oberland | 2. April 2022
After the international break is before the championship round. This also applies to FC Thun Bernese Oberland, who have almost forgotten the weak start of the second half of the season after three wins in a row. Incidentally, the triumphal march started a good month ago against SC Kriens, the opponent that the Oberlanders also had to deal with in round 28.
Nicolas Hasler (left) trained only to a limited extent in Thun because he was with the Liechtenstein national team at the training camp.Photo: Michael Zanghellini
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The final quarter of the season in the Challenge League is upon us. And the chances for FC Thun to have a say in the promotion race or at least in the fight for the Barrage place are definitely intact again. Second-placed FC Winterthur is only six points ahead of the Bernese Oberland.
It was very different just two months ago. After the 3-0 win at the start of the second half of the season, Thun only got one point in four games. The dream of promotion seemed almost over. “It’s not looking so rosy at the moment, that’s the way it is. But that can change quickly in football,” said President Andres Gerber at the time.
And he was right: With the close but deserved 1-0 win at the bottom of Kriens at the beginning of March, coach Carlos Bernegger’s team started a small run. With another win against Stade Lausanne-Ouchy and before the international break against Vaduz, they gradually stalked the top teams. This is also because they have snatched away the points in recent weeks or simply given them away.
Coach Carlos Bernegger seems to have found a recipe for success after a difficult few weeks at the start of the second half of the season.Photo: Keystone, Marcel Bieri
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Everything still open
Means: For the last quarter of this year’s season, the cards are definitely reshuffled in terms of promotion races. From the leaders FC Aarau to fifth-placed FC Thun, all teams still have realistic chances – and the teams behind them, Xamax, Wil and Yverdon, could even have a say.
For the Bernese Oberland, the upcoming game of the 28th round at home against the bottom team Kriens is all the more important in order not to lose touch again immediately. The chances of a complete success, it would be the fourth in a row, are also good. After more than ten defeats in a row, the Krienser were able to wrestle a point from FC Schaffhausen before the international break, but the central Swiss should be a very feasible task for FC Thun.
Of course, the question arises as to whether the international break came at the wrong time after the successful run that had started. On the one hand, they would certainly have continued to play on a weekly basis, as Pius Dorn said after the 2-0 win in Vaduz. “On the other hand, it’s definitely good for us to relax and train together for several days. But we definitely want to pick up where we left off in the home game against Kriens,” the German continued.
With Fabian Rüdlin, another German will be missing from FC Thun. In addition, two players are out due to injury: Leotrim Dushica and Zemerart Lekaj will not be there in the showdown against the bottom team.
The games of the 28th round
Yverdon-Sport FC – FC Vaduz
FC Schaffhausen – Neuchâtel Xamax FCS
FC Wil – FC Aarau
FC Winterthur – FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy
FC Thun Bernese Oberland – SC Kriens
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Ten Challenge League Tables |
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| Rang | Team | games | S | U | N | Tore | +/- | Points |
| 1 | FC Aarau | 27 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 48:34 | +14 | 47 |
| 2 | FC Winterthur | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 53:35 | +18 | 46 |
| 3 | FC Vaduz | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 48:42 | +6 | 44 |
| 4 | FC Schaffhausen | 27 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 50:38 | +12 | 43 |
| 5 | FC Thun Bernese Oberland | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 44:39 | +5 | 40 |
| 6 | FC Stade Lausanne-Ouchy | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 36:32 | +4 | 40 |
| 7 | Neuchâtel Xamax FCS | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 36:39 | -3 | 37 |
| 8 | FC Wil 1900 | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 51:54 | -3 | 36 |
| 9 | Yverdon Sport FC | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 33:34 | -1 | 35 |
| 10 | SC Kriens | 27 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 15:67 | -52 | 7 |
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