Athletic win leaves Young Boys glowing

Midfielder Xavier Hochstrasser said "I love games like these" after his BSC Young Boys side pulled off one of the shocks of Thursday night, winning 1-0 against Athletic Club Bilbao in Spain.

Impressive form
Having kicked off the Swiss season with two wins and a draw – including a 3-2 opening-day triumph against champions FC Zürich – the Berne outfit excelled at the San Mamés. Seydou Doumbia gave them a 23rd-minute lead, and goalkeeper Marco Wölfli preserved the advantage by saving Fernando Llorente's penalty in the second half. "Marco is in fantastic form," said English defender Scott Sutter. "Whenever we have a bad day, he helps us do better."

'Half the job'
The 250 Young Boys fans among the 30,000-strong crowd in Bilbao were celebrating long after the final whistle, but while he enjoyed the experience enormously, the 21-year-old Hochstrasser is not going overboard just yet. "This was just half of the job; we now have to win the second leg next week in Berne," he explained. "It was a very emotional match but I love games like these. Real emotion is great in football."

Positive write-up
Doumbia's strike came as no surprise to the scouts who have been watching the Ivorian forward, with his four league goals in three games taking his overall tally with YB to 24 in 35 top-flight matches. The Spanish press, meanwhile, like the look of Vladimir Petković's side, with Marca declaring: "Young Boys did not steal this victory. They are a physically strong and efficient team: an intelligent squad." The rest of Europe can consider that a warning.