Champions League-the red star takes Bern in the storm

Cuddly Helvetien, you oasis of wellbeing for troubled earthlings! Chilled road users, cautious wealth, hardly any beggars and clean streets and squares, for trained Berliners a visit to Switzerland comes close to a cultural shock. We were traveling in Bern and Basel for two days to from our book »United in pride. Football, nation and identity in the Postjugoslav area “read and of course to look at the last Champions League group game between Berner SC Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade in Bern. The first YB sticker already caught the eye: “Group-related misanthropy is not very original”. Wow, I wish such glue in Jena or Berlin.

Ballhaus East

Imago/Matthias Koch

Frank Willmann looks at football between Leipzig, Łódź and Ljubljana.

Although YB died in the last place on the last place on the Champions League table, the stadium was very well filled. Many women and more People of Color than in German stadiums, normal people looking for soccer recreation. The delije raged in the guest block, the fans of red star were very quick with free torso in the block and showed us their white asses and Serbian flags. Naturally, 80 percent of the delije are Confederates in Serbian clubs in Switzerland. During the Yugoslav wars, Switzerland started refugees from all Yugoslav ethnic groups, and from the early 1980s there was a strong influx of guest workers who often worked in simple professions.

People maintain the culture of the old homeland, especially for young men, football is a connecting element, also because they often have to do with everyday racism with their migration history in Switzerland. Many live in the second and third generation with two passes in Switzerland and, if they don’t have to cheer on red star, lead a stink -normal Swiss existence. They stop with the vehicle when pedestrians want to cross the street, they are fond of animals, honor their old fellow human beings and do not throw their garbage on the sidewalk.

During the game, however, the well -behaved Swiss in the Belgrade Block turned into changing testosterone zombies with cute hatred to everything and everyone. Their chants were martial battle announcements, mothers were disparaged, dogs were maltreated and all sorts of blood-and-soil nonsense were cheered (Kosovo is Serbia, etc.). You could dismiss it as a Balkan folklore and make fun of it, your lifestyle is for ninety minutes. Maybe they just wanted to let off steam because Switzerland seems too good, or too hypocritical and licked. Fuck yourself, tomorrow’s everyday life is waiting with slippers and crochet blankets.

However, we enjoyed the beautiful Berner Liedgut: “Häded Nech on the Bänkli, yb het – for Öich es Gschänkli”. There was much more than the catch channels to be admired anyway. The kick between Bern and Belgrade was unfortunately quite bland. At least it was nice and cold, and the next day the snow -covered Alps shone as brightly as on the wrapping paper of the Swiss Alpine milk chocolate. Then a well -groomed muh!