Marque and Basel eager to make amends

François Marque told uefa.com FC Basel 1893 had simply not been able to meet the sky-high standards set by their Group C opponents after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat by Sporting Clube de Portugal left the Swiss champions with the joint-worst record of all 32 teams.

'No shame'
Only FC Steaua Bucureşti can match Basel's total of a single point from their six group-phase games should they lose their final match against ACF Fiorentina in Florence on Wednesday, but Marque said Christian Gross's team had nothing to be embarrassed about. "We've learned what level we have to get ourselves up to," said the 25-year-old, whose surrender of possession led to Yannick Djaló scoring the only goal after 19 minutes of the tie at St. Jakob-Park. "There's no shame in admitting we couldn't play at that level this year. All the teams had experience of the competition, we didn't have any. We've learned the hard way. That's going to serve us well for the Swiss championship and for the future. We've got a lot of young players, so we need a lot more time."

'More positive'
Marque featured in five group games during his maiden UEFA Champions League campaign, including the surprise 1-1 draw at FC Barcelona on Matchday 4. That impressive result was sandwiched in between a pair of emphatic 5-0 defeats against the Catalan club and FC Shakhtar Donetsk, however, but left Basel harbouring hopes of signing off in a positive fashion against a Sporting team already through to the knockout stages. "We're disappointed, because we wanted to give our supporters and ourselves a good result for the last match," said Marque, who saw team-mates Valentin Stocker and Carlitos go close to finding a leveller in a frantic finish. "It was good performance, and there are far more positive things than negative to come out of that match. However, it's still a defeat."

'Pinnacle'
The reverse marked the end of a testing four months for Basel, whose domestic form has suffered as a consequence of their European exertions. However, with just a one-point gap to bridge to Super League leaders FC Zürich, there are realistic ambitions of a 13th Swiss championship in the club's history, which would open the door to a potential participation in next season's group stage. "Even if it's only to hear that music, you want to play in it," said Marque of the competition's emotive pre-match signature tune. "It's the best competition there is, the best teams are all in it. It's the pinnacle of club football. I think it's an objective of every player to play in it. Unfortunately, we weren't up to it this season, but we really want to play in it again, and this time, be up to the task."