Champions League team guide: Young Boys in the spotlight

Young Boys romped to the Swiss Super League title last season, only losing two matches and finishing an incredible 31 points ahead of second-place Basel.

That earned them a spot in the second qualifying round for the Champions League, where they drew 0-0 away to Slovan Bratislava before beating the Slovakian outfit 3-2 in Bern, with Michel Aebischer scoring an injury-time winner.

Young Boys then knocked out Romanian side Cluj, 4-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round.

In the play-off round against Hungarian club Ferencvaros, Young Boys won 3-2 at home, despite playing most of the game with 10 men after Silvan Hefti got sent off in the 25th minute.

They then won 3-2 in Budapest to make it 6-4 on aggregate, in a tie that saw 10 goals, two red cards and two missed penalties over the two legs.

Young Boys' Champions League group

Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United, Atalanta, Young Boys

European history

Young Boys’ best European performance came way back in 1958-59 when they reached the semi-final of the European Cup, losing to French side Reims.

They also reached the quarter-final of the 1987-88 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and got to the last 16 of the Europa League last season, beating Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 32.

Young Boys have only been in the group stage of the Champions League once before — in the 2018-19 season.

That season, the Swiss side finished bottom of a tough group featuring Juventus, Manchester United and Valencia.

They did manage four points though, drawing with Valencia, and beating Juventus 2-1 in their final game.

Expectations

This year, like in 2018-19, Young Boys once again face Manchester United in the group stage.

They lost to the Red Devils 3-0 at the Wankdorf Stadium that season, but made it hard for United at Old Trafford — holding on until injury-time, when Marouane Fellaini scored the only goal of the game.

With Villarreal and Atalanta making up the rest of Group F this season, Young Boys will do well to finish higher than fourth, but their performances three years ago suggest they will not be an easy opponent for Europe’s big boys.

Star man: Jordan Siebatcheu

Jordan Siebatcheu joined Young Boys on a permanent basis this summer, after impressing during a loan spell there last season.

The striker scored 12 goals in 32 league games in 2020-21, following his loan move from French side Rennes.

He was eligible to play for both Cameroon and France — even featuring for Les Bleus’ Under-21s — but in March this year Siebatcheu announced he would represent the country of his birth, the United States.

The 25-year-old has already played six times for the USA, scoring the winning goal against Honduras in the semi-final of the CONCACAF Nations League in June.

One to watch: Moumi Ngamaleu

Cameroon winger Moumi Ngamaleu has been at Young Boys since 2017 and has contributed a commendable 25 league goals and 17 assists across his time at the club.

The pacy wide man joined the Bern-based outfit from Austrian side Altach and can play on both the left and right sides of the pitch.

Ngamaleu, 28, has played for Cameroon 21 times and has been a regular for the national team since the end of 2019.

His goal and assist in the home match against Cluj, as well as two assists against Ferencvaros, were key in helping Young Boys reach the Champions League group stage.

The boss: David Wagner

David Wagner took over the reins at the Wankdorf Stadium this summer, replacing Gerardo Seoane who is now in the dugout at Bayer Leverkusen.

The German coach started his managerial career with Borussia Dortmund’s second team, before joining English side Huddersfield in 2015.

He won promotion to the Premier League in his second season in Yorkshire, and – against all odds – kept the Terriers in the top flight the following year.

In May 2019 he joined Bundesliga side Schalke, but had a disastrous spell there, going a club record 18 games without victory.

The 49-year-old had been linked with a return to England, but instead takes on the tough task of leading Young Boys into the Champions League this season.

All information correct as of 10am, September 14, 2021