page_title: Benjamin Huggel
section_title: Return to Basel
hierarchical_section_title: Benjamin Huggel / Club career / Return to Basel
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of Scott Brown verus FC Basle, pre-season 2007.
context_page_description: Benjamin "Beni" Huggel is a Swiss former footballer who played as a midfielder for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League and for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga.
  He won a total of twelve titles with Basel, seven League Championships and five Swiss Cup titles. He played in four Swiss Cup Finals and scored a goal in each Final. For Frankfurt he played in the 2006 DFB-Pokal Final, but the team finished as runner-up. Huggel played 41 times as a Swiss international scoring two goals, the second of which being the 1000th goal in the history of the Swiss national team. He was well known because of his height, his strength and for being a fearless fighter in the centre of the pitch. He now works for Basel as assistant trainer for the U-21 team.
context_section_description: Following Huggels return to Basel for the 2007–08 season, he became a constant fixture in the centre of midfield in their domestic and European encounters. That year he won the Swiss Super League for the fourth time and the Swiss Cup for a third. In the 2008 cup final on 6 April 2008, he scored Basel's fourth goal as they beat AC Bellinzona 4–1.
  During Basel's 2008–09 season, Huggel showed his goal scoring qualities. Basel played their opening game of the season in Bern on 18 July 2008 against BSC Young Boys, which they won 2–1. Basel's goals were scored by Marko Perović and Benjamin Huggel. Basel entered the Champions League in the Second Qualifying Round and were drawn against IFK Göteborg of the Allsvenskan. The first leg was on 30 July 2008 at Ullevi and finished 1–1. Huggel scored the Basel goal. The second leg was played on 6 August at St. Jakob-Park. Basel came from behind twice to win 4–2, Huggel scored the equaliser to 1–1, and Basel qualified for the UEFA Champions League Group Stages against FC Barcelona, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Clube de Portugal. In the League. despite remaining in first or second position for most of the season, Basel finished only in third position behind FC Zürich and Young Boys. Huggel scored ten league goals that season, only second behind Scott Chipperfield, who scored 12 times.
  Thorsten Fink was appointed as Basel's new manager on 9 June 2009. Basel entered the Europa League in the second qualifying round playing against Andorrans Santa Colma, against KR Reykjavík of Iceland in the third round, against FK Baku of Azerbaijan in the play-offs and they qualified for the Europa League group stage. FCB were then drawn into Group E alongside A.S. Roma (Serie A), Fulham (Premier League) and CSKA Sofia (Bulgarian A Professional Football Group). But they only finishing in third place. Huggel played all twelve Europa League matches. In domestic affairs Basel swept the board. Despite a poor start to the season they came back to win the title on the last day of the season in the match against favourites BSC Young Boys at the Stade de Suisse. Huggel played 32 League matches, scoring eleven goals. At the end of Basel's 2009–10 season Huggel also won the Swiss Cup and yet again he scored a goal in the cup final as they beat Lausanne-Sport 6–0. At the end of the season, the goal that Huggel scored in the 2–2 away draw on 28 October 2009 against Zürich was voted "Best European Goal of the Season 2009–2010" on guardian.co.uk, where it was chosen by a massive lot of over 84%.
  Huggel won his sixth league championship in 2011, playing 26 games and scoring three goals. Basel ended the 2010–11 Swiss Super League only one point ahead of Zürich winning the last game of the season 3–0 against Luzern in front of 37,500 spectators in the sold-out St. Jakob-Park Stadium. Huggel missed that game due to a one match ban because he received his fourth yellow card of the season during the penultimate game away to FC St. Gallen.
  The following season turned out to be his last as professional footballer as he announced his retirement on 30 March 2012. The 2010–11 season was Basel's most successful season in the club's history. Huggel won his fourth Double, the League Championship title and the Swiss Cup with the club. He played 23 league games scoring four goals. He played four of the six cup games, scoring an away goal against FC Schötz in the second round and a goal in the final. The final was played against Luzern in the Stade de Suisse, Bern, and this goal meant that had scored a goal in each of the four Swiss Cup finals that he had played in. The game was drawn 1–1, but Basel won the title in a penalty shoot-out.
  Basel also played very impressive away games in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League and Huggel scored his first Champions League goal on 2 November 2011, the equaliser, during a group stage match away to Benfica. Thus Basel remained undefeated in the away games, winning against Oțelul Galați and drawing against Manchester United and Benfica and they qualified for the knockout phase. In the Round of 16
caption: Huggel (left) in action for Basel against Celtic in the Uhrencup in July 2007.
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