thus slipped to second position in the table before the winter break. At the start of the second half of season the team suffered two straight off defeats against reigning Swiss champions Young Boys and the team St. Gallen who then rose to the top of the league table. Following a home defeat against bottom of the table Thun, Basel lost contact to the top two teams. On 28 February Swiss Football League postponed all Super and Challenge League matches of matchdays 24, 25 and 26. Postponement came after the Swiss Federal Council banned all major events until 15 March due to the COVID-19 outbreak. On 13 March Super and Challenge League football was halted until mid June. Following this COVID-19 break Basel could not close the gap to the table top and therefore ended their season in third position, 14 points behind defending champions Young Boys who successfully retained the title. Arthur Cabral was the team's top league goal scorer, he netted 14 goals. Kemal Ademi was the team's second best league goal scorer with 13, Fabian Frei scored 10 goals and Valentin Stocker netted eight. Fabian Frei and Eray Cömert were the two players with the most appearances, they both played 33 of the 36 league matches. Goalkeeper Jonas Omlin and the two defenders Silvan Widmer and Taulant Xhaka each played 32 league matches. Domestic Cup Basel's clear aim for the cup is to win the title. The first round of the Swiss Cup was played on the week-end 16/17/18 August. Up until the quarter finals the home advantage was granted to the team from the lower league. Basel play their first-round game on 18 August away from home against sixth tier Pully Football. Despite a straight red card against Raoul Petretta Basel won the game by four goals to one. In round 2 Basel were drawn away against FC Meyrin. Basel won 3–0 and advanced to the next round. In round 3 Basel were drawn away against Stade Lausanne, Basel won this game 2–1 and advanced to the quarter-final. The quarter-final against Lausanne-Sport was originally scheduled for 3 March, but eventually played on 14 June. Shortly after half time Cabral scored twice to put Basel two up, but Andi Zeqiri and Joël Geissmann put Lausanne level. In the 105th minute Silvan Widmer scored and Basel won the game 3–2 after extra time. The semi-final was fixed for