Nice vs Basel facts

Flying the French flag alone in Europe, Nice have their sights set on a first major European semi-final as they host Basel in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final tie hoping to make the most of home advantage following a first-leg 2-2 draw in Switzerland.

Nice finished above Partizan in UEFA Europa Conference League Group D on head-to-head record to secure direct access to the round of 16, though the French side's final tally of nine points was the lowest of all eight section winners. They then comfortably accounted for Moldovan champions Sheriff, winning both legs (1-0 a, 3-1 h).

Basel were denied top spot in Group H by Slovan Bratislava on head-to-head record during the autumn but, with coach Alexander Frei subsequently replaced by technical director Heiko Vogel, they went on to eliminate the Slovakian champions 4-1 on penalties in the round of 16 after two 2-2 draws following a knockout play-off success against Turkish title holders Trabzonspor (0-1 a, 2-0 h).

Previous meetings

Nice's first UEFA encounter with Swiss opposition, at St. Jakob-Park on 13 April, featured one of the UEFA Europa Conference League's most eye-catching goals – a stunning overhead kick just before half-time from January loanee Terem Moffi that gave the Nigerian striker his second goal of the game and put the French side 2-1 up. However, Basel had a double scorer of their own in Swiss international Zeki Amdouni, who opened the scoring with a penalty and closed it with a 71st-minute header to make it five goals in his last four European appearances.

Basel's record against French opponents is W4 D5 L8 with no wins in France, where their record is D2 L4 with defeats on their last three visits, the most recent 1-2 at Marseille in the first leg of last season's UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16. A 4-2 aggregate defeat in that tie means Basel's record in two-legged contests with French teams is now W3 L2, the most recent victory on away goals against Saint-Étienne in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (2-3 a, 2-1 h).

Form guide

Nice

Nice finished fifth under head coach Christophe Galtier in Ligue 1 last season, when they also lost the final of the Coupe de France, 1-0 to Nantes, to book a place as France's representatives in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Les Aiglons were absent from Europe in 2021/22.

This season, with Galtier departed for Paris Saint-Germain and Swiss coach Lucien Favre back at the club he served from 2016 to 2018, Nice edged through their UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-off against Maccabi Tel-Aviv (0-1 a, 2-0 h aet) before doing likewise to top their group, winning just two of their six matches – 1-0 away to Slovácko and 2-1 at home to Partizan – to squeeze through to the round of 16. Favre was dismissed in January and replaced on an interim basis until the end of the season by reserve team coach Didier Digard, who oversaw the round of 16 victory against Sheriff.

This is Nice's first experience of a major European quarter-final in 63 years. They lost both of their two previous last-eight ties to eventual winners Real Madrid in the European Cup, going down 6-2 on aggregate in 1956/57 (0-3 a, 2-3 h) and 6-3 over the two legs in 1959/60 (3-2 h, 0-4 a).

Nice have lost five of their last 11 European home games (W5 D1), the latest defeat 1-2 to Slovácko on Matchday 4, though they have found the net at least once in all of those matches and have won the last two.

The only previous UEFA tie in which Nice drew the first leg away was the club's very first in UEFA competition, against AGF Aarhus in the 1956/57 European Cup first round when they followed a 1-1 draw in Denmark with a 5-1 victory in France.

Basel

Runners-up in the 2021/22 Swiss Super League, 12 points behind champions FC Zürich, Basel also had a lengthy run in the UEFA Europa Conference League last season, progressing from the second qualifying round to the round of 16, where, having topped their group to bypass the knockout play-offs, they fell to Marseille.

This season, newly led by former Switzerland striker Frei, Basel booked a return ticket to the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage by successfully coming through three qualifying ties for the second successive campaign, Crusaders, Brøndby – on penalties – and CSKA-Sofia all being defeated as the Swiss side secured an 18th European group campaign. They made it through their section for the 12th time – and fourth in a row – by taking six points off Pyunik (3-1 h, 2-1 a), four off Žalgiris Vilnius (1-0 a, 2-2 h) and one off Slovan (0-2 h, 3-3 a) to finish second. Then came the knockout phase wins against Trabzonspor and Slovan under new boss Vogel that earned the club a sixth appearance in a major European quarter-final.

Basel have lost four of those previous five last-eight ties, most recently going down 4-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk in a single-leg tie in Gelsenkirchen, Germany in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League. Their only success at this stage was on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League, the Swiss side prevailing 4-1 on spot kicks after two 2-2 draws – precisely as they did against Slovan in the last round.

Basel ended a four-game winless run in European away games (D1 L3) with that 1-0 victory in Lithuania on Matchday 2. They are unbeaten on the road in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage (W3 D3) but, excluding penalty shoot-outs, have yet to win away in the knockout phase of the competition (D1 L2).

This is the second successive round of the UEFA Europa Conference League in which Basel have drawn the first leg at home 2-2. They came through on spot kicks against Slovan last time out to make it three wins in 11 UEFA ties in which they were held to a home draw in the first leg. The most recent of their eight aggregate defeats came against eventual winners Sevilla in the round of 16 of the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League (0-0 h, 0-3 a). Earlier that season they also lost the only other tie in which they drew the first leg 2-2 at home, going out on away goals in the UEFA Champions League play-offs to Maccabi Tel-Aviv (1-1 a).

Links and trivia 

Basel's Nice-born defender Andy Pelmard and Switzerland international Dan Ndoye both joined Basel from Les Aiglons last summer after spending 2021/22 on loan at St. Jakob-Park.

Other members of Basel's squad to have played in France are Jean-Kévin Augustin (Paris Saint-Germain 2015–17, Monaco 2019/20 loan, Nantes 2020–22), Andy Diouf (Rennes 2018–22) and Hugo Vogel (Lyon 2020–22). All three are French nationals.

Nice's Jordan Lotomba is a Swiss defender who has played in his homeland for Lausanne (2016/17) and Young Boys (2017–20), winning the Swiss Super League in each of his three seasons with the Berne club.

Lotomba is a Switzerland national team-mate of Basel's Amdouni and Andi Zeqiri.

This is Basel's 32nd match in all rounds of the UEFA Europa Conference League – a competition record.

Basel are one of three clubs, along with AZ Alkmaar and Gent, who were eliminated in last season's UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16 but have made it through to the quarter-finals this term. None of the 2021/22 quarter-finalists are involved again this season.

Nice and Basel are the lone remaining representatives from their respective countries in European club competition this season.

Nice are one of three UEFA Europa Conference League group winners to have reached the last eight, together with AZ and West Ham.

Nice lost in Ligue 1 for the second successive weekend on Sunday, going down 1-0 at Brest, while Basel made it three successive draws in all competitions as they came from behind to hold runaway Swiss Super League leaders Young Boys 1-1 at St. Jakob-Park.

The winners of this tie will face Lech Poznań or Fiorentina in the semi-final.

Penalty shoot-outs

Nice have yet to feature in a UEFA penalty shoot-out.

Basel's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W4 L0:
4-1 v Tottenham Hotspur, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-final
4-3 v Hammarby, 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-off
3-1 v Brøndby, 2022/23 UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round
4-1 v Slovan Bratislava, 2022/23 UEFA Europa Conference League round of 16