published: thursday 13 march 2014, 21.09cet fc basel 1893 0-0 fc salzburg
the visitors were denied a victory for the first time in this season's uefa europa league in a round of 16 opener of few chances.
fc salzburg maintained their unbeaten run but have work to do to advance after a tense uefa europa league round of 16 first leg ended goalless against fc basel 1893 in switzerland.
the visitors looked more likely to break the deadlock but were met by the steely resistance of last year's semi-finalists who, driven on by the desire of midfielder serey die, did enough to take a goalless draw back to austria next week after a match of few chances.
roger schmidt's side opened proceedings high on confidence, taking control of midfield. they also forced an exceptional early save from yann sommer when stefan ılsanker's wicked free-kick evaded a cluster of players and seemed destined for the far corner. sommer was by far the busier of the goalkeepers, twice repelling kevin kampl and also having to deal with a headed attempt from the tricky sadio mané.
early on, the hosts were limited to counterattacks, from which matías delgado lofted an attempt over from 15 metres. however, as the first period progressed, murat yakin's team became equal stakeholders in the contest. after good work from philipp degen, giovanni sio's angled header drifted over and optimism filtered through st. jakob-park when valentin stocker created an opening with clever positioning and footwork, only to be denied by péter gulácsi.
both teams were happy to keep the play compact in the second half, restricting the regularity of chances at both ends. salzburg pressed out wide down both channels but were frustrated by basel's discipline and resilience. ındeed, such virtues looked like bringing a reward for the hosts, only for gulácsi to twice keep out low drives from die, who earned a standing ovation for his contribution.
the midfielder had collected a booking in the first half that rules him out of the second leg but gave a dedicated and stirring display thereafter. still, the visitors were keen to have the last word, with substitute valon berisha testing sommer soon after coming on but there was to be no breakthrough.
