The lowdown on BSC Young Boys

We zoom in on the second of the eight teams that FC Barcelona are playing in the new-look League Phase of the Champions League, Young Boys of Switzerland.

Where are they from?

With a metropolitan population of around 660,000, Bern is the fifth biggest city in the country, but serves as its capital. Set along the Aare River, its most famous landmarks include the Zytglogge clock tower, the Bundeshaus (Swiss Parliament) and the Bärengraben (Bear Pit).

Bern is also the city where Barça played two of its European finals, although sadly both ended in defeat. They lost 3-2 to Benfica at the Wankdorf Stadium in 1961's European Cup Final, and lost to Slovan Bratislava by the same score in the final of the 1968 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Club history

Berner Sport Club Young Boys was founded one year before Barça in 1898, and chose that name to mimic that of the Old Boys club based in Basel. They had an immediate impact and just three years after forming they were crowned Swiss champions for the first time. They have been one of the strongest forces in the country ever since, but other than their golden from 1957-60 when they won the league four times in a row and also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, no era in their history is comparable to the success they have enjoyed in the last few years.

In 2018 they interrupted Basel’s eight-year stranglehold on the Swiss title, and have been Switzerland’s most successful team ever since, winning six of the last seven championships.

On the back of that success they have made it into the group stage of the Champions League three times before now, and although they have won games against Juventus and Manchester United, they have never manged to advance to the knockout stage.

Head to head

1913 Friendlies in Barcelona
Barça 1-2 Young Boys
Barça 2-2 Young Boys
1916 Friendlies in Barcelona
Barça 4-1 Young Boys
Barça 4-0 Young Boys
1951 Teresa Herrera Trophy in La Coruña
Barça 4-2 Young Boys
1958 Friendly in Bern
Young Boys 1-6 Barça

This is the first time that the teams have ever met in an official competition, and although they have played six friendlies over the years, the most recent of those was 66 years ago. Way back in the 1910s, Young Boys twice played back-to-back games at the old Camp de la Indústria. In 1913 they got the better of the Catalans but three years later things had swung the other way.

The other two meetings were both in the 1950s, with Barça running up big wins on both occasions. They have never played again since. In fact, this is the first time Barça have played any Swiss team since they shared a group with Basel in the 2008-09 Champions League.

Form guide

So far, 2024/25 has been a nefarious season by Young Boys recent high standards, with just one win from their first eight Swiss Super League games. On Saturday, they lost 1-0 at home to another surprise struggler, Grasshoppers, leaving them second from bottom in the table.

However, in stark contrast to their domestic woes, they beat Galatasaray home and away to qualify for the Champions League proper, although they started the league phase with a rather dismal 3-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

The players

The Young Boys squad is very much a blend of local Swiss talent and a number of African imports, with no fewer than eight different countries from that continent represented in their ranks. Joël Monteiro is the dangerman up front, while although Young Boys' injury problems are nothing compared to Barça's right now, they are expected to be without Saidy Janko, Patric Pfeiffer and Facinet Conte for their visit to Catalonia.

Most international caps
Meschak Elia (DR Congo, 48), Ebrima Colley (Gambia, 28), Silvère Ganvoula (Congo, 24),  Mohamed Ali Camara (Guinea, 23), Loris Benito (Switzerland, 13), Cedric Itten (Switzerland, 12), Miguel Chaiwa (Zambia, 11), Saidy Janko (Gambia, 10), Jaouen Hadjam (Algeria, 6), Facinet Conte (Guinea, 5)

The boss

Born into a footballing family, Patrick Rahmen was a midfielder for Basel but never reached his 100th appearance. Instead, it is in management that he made his name, primarily as a youth and assistant coach until his first major senior appointment back at Basel in 2021. He was later in charge of Winterthur before accepting an offer from Young Boys at the start of the present campaign.