Match Preview Liverpool FC vs FC Sion
When you think of Switzerland, you think of a nation known for cuckoo clocks, chocolates, cheese that's holier than the Pope, fiendishly over-engineered pen-knives and stolen Nazi gold and art treasures.
It's hard to say what their greatest contribution to football is.
For Liverpool, of course, the Swiss superman is best represented by Stephane Henchoz, who came through the ranks at Neuchatel Xamax before leaving Swiss football for the Bundesliga and Premier League.
Henchoz appeared 135 times for Liverpool, and alongside Sami Hyypia formed the tight defensive partnership that was the base on which Liverpool built their treble campaign of 2000-01.
In recent years, Basel have dominated the Swiss Superleague, winning the competition nine times since the change from the old National A division in 2003. They are still some way off Grasshopper Zurich's record of 27 league titles, the last of which came in 2003.
Sion, meanwhile, have traditionally been more of a cup specialist, winning the Swiss Cup on no fewer than thirteen occasions. They hold the unique distinction of never having lost a cup final.
Their current manager is Dider Tholot, who has been in and out of the role on a regular basis since first being appointed in 2003.
He left the club for the second time in 2010, after which the Sion manager's position was swapped around an unbelievable eighteen times before he returned for yet another stint.
Here's the list:
Didier Tholot (April 14, 2009 – May 21, 2010)
Bernard Challandes (July 1, 2010–Feb 22, 2011)
Laurent Roussey (Feb 22, 2011–April 23, 2012)
Rolland Courbis (interim) (April 2, 2012 – June 5, 2012)
Vladimir Petković (May 15, 2012 – June 2, 2012)
Sébastien Fournier (June 1, 2012–Sept 3, 2012)
Michel Decastel (Sept 4, 2012–Oct 30, 2012)
Pierre-André Schürmann (Oct 30, 2012–Dec 10, 2012)
Víctor Muñoz (Jan 1, 2013–Feb 25, 2013)
Gennaro Gattuso (Feb 25, 2013–March 25, 2013)
Luigi Riccio (interim) (March 1, 2013 – March 24, 2013)
Arno Rossini (March 26, 2013 – May 13, 2013)
Michel Decastel (May 15, 2013–Oct 21, 2013)
Laurent Roussey (Oct 22, 2013–Feb 11, 2014)
Raimondo Ponte (Feb 11, 2014–Jun 5, 2014)
Claudio Gentile (Jun 5, 2014–Jun 12, 2014)
Frédéric Chassot (Jun 12, 2014–Sep 28, 2014)
Jochen Dries (Sep 28, 2014–Dec 8, 2014)
Didier Tholot (Dec 17, 2014–)
I particularly like how two of those were "interim" managers, yet managed to stay in role longer than some of the permanent choices.
I suspect this is some kind of record, anyone know otherwise?
Anyway, the club is now at last under a stable regime, and currently sit fifth in the Swiss Superleague with 4 wins from 9.
Players to look out for include forwards Konate and Mboyo and winger Geoffrey Bia.
Previous Meetings
The Swiss Superleague outfit has only once played Liverpool in a competitive fixture, in the 1996 Cup Winners Cup.
The away leg was won 2-1 by Roy Evans' Liverpool, with club legends Robbie Fowler and John Barnes scoring for the reds.
The return leg at Anfield was a nine-goal spectacular, the Reds running out 6-3 winners with a rare goal from Stig Inge Bjornebye among contributions from McManaman, Barnes, Fowler (2) and Berger.
Liverpool would go on to lose 3-2 on aggregate to PSG in the Semi-Final, representing their last ever chance to win the now-defunct third European competition.
Players to have pulled on the FC Sion shirt include former Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday star Mark Bright as well as Rangers and Milan star Gennaro Gattuso, Man City's other 90s Georgian player Mikheil Kavelashvili, Everton and Newcastle's Mark Hottiger and the New England Revolution's Jose Goncalves.
(And if there are more names you recall among Sion's list of former players, you are a greater football nerd than I.)
Sion are currently top of Group B, after winning their match against Rubin Kazan last time out. A win for Liverpool would propel us to the top of the league. And it seems like a long time since we've been able to say that.