Considering we are only at the second qualifying stage of the Champions League, this is a massive tie.
Both PSV Eindhoven and FC Basel will believe they should be in the group stages of the competition but the fact of the matter is they failed to win their domestic leagues last season.
That means both teams enter the second qualifying stage in the League Path and that has resulted in a very tough fixture. PSV Eindhoven and FC Basel will play the first leg of their tie at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday 23rd July.
PSV Eindhoven finished second in the Dutch Eredivisie last season, just 3 points behind champions Ajax in defence of their title. The 2019/20 domestic campaign does not begin until the 3rd of August in Holland and that’s means PSV Eindhoven have been forced to rely on friendly games ahead of this Champions League qualifying match.
'We zijn er klaar voor, maar eenvoudig wordt het zeker niet.'🎙 @MarkvanBommel6 #PSVBAS— PSV (@PSV) July 22, 2019
'We zijn er klaar voor, maar eenvoudig wordt het zeker niet.'🎙 @MarkvanBommel6 #PSVBAS
They have seen a mixed bag of results in preseason, losing their final friendly 2-0 to Wolfsburg but will be hoping they rise to the occasion for this game. PSV Eindhoven played in the Champions League group stage last season but finished bottom of a group containing Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.
They picked up just 2 points, one of which came at home in a 2-2 draw with eventual finalists, Tottenham Hotspur. Their home Champions League results have been mixed, with just one win in their last eight and that came against BATE Borisov in 2018 qualifying.
FC Basel enjoyed a tremendous run between 2009 and 2017 where they won the Swiss Championship every season. However, they have failed to do so in the past two season and lost out by a massive 20 points to Young Boys in the 2018/19 campaign.
The new season has already started in Switzerland and FC Basel won their opening game with a comfortable 4-1 victory at Sion to move second in the table on goal difference.
Trends show FC Basel have won one of their last four Champions League games, with the win coming at Manchester City in 2018. However, they lost out in the qualifying rounds last season, losing both legs to PAOK. Despite the 2-1 loss at PAOK being their last away result in the competition, FC Basel have won three of their last four on the road, defeating CSKA Moscow, Benfica and Manchester City.
Team news and PSV Eindhoven will be without the injured duo of Yannick Van Osch and Ryan Thomas. Hirving Lozano could play centrally following the sale of Luuk de Jong to Sevilla.
FC Basel have three players missing for this game. Zdravko Kuzmanovic, Julian Vonmoos and Tician Tushi will miss out, with the former being the biggest miss for the Swiss.
PSV Eindhoven will need to be on their guard against a team who have been known to produce good away performances in the Champions League. However, the hosts have good, quick attacking players and we could see a home win with both teams scoring.