In the first round Basel were drawn against local amateur club FC Oberdorf, who at that time played in the fifth tier of Swiss football.

The grounds that Oberdorf used at that time was an artificial turf field and on one side was a small grandstand with 100 covered seats and space for maximum 2,000 spectators.

Basel head-coach Christian Gross fielded his strongest team, however four players were injured and Benjamin Huggel was missing due to a suspension.

Pushed on by the sold-out 30,000 spectator crowd the Swiss champions Basel took the early initiative and it was their Argentinian attacking duo Christian Giménez and Julio Hernán Rossi dictating the flow of the game from the very beginning.

Mario Cantaluppi surprised the Inter defence by lobbing a free-kick high to the near post, here it was controlled by Rossi who then, with a smart overhead kick, played it into the danger area.

Francesco Toldo made to good saves, first parrying a long-range lob from Matías Delgado and then a hard hit shot from Rossi.

The Italian championship had not yet started and the Swiss season had already been going for a month, therefore the Inter players were tired towards the end, however Basel failed to take advantage of this, Huggel coming closest in the 78th minute as he hit a low drive from the edge of the penalty area, but the visitors were saved by the post.

Only a few seconds later the home crowd were able to celebrate as Adriano put Inter ahead with a low shot precise inside the far post after a pass from Dejan Stanković.

Despite the two-goal lead, the home side refused to sit back and Zuberbühler had to make another good save after a long distance left-foot shot by Recoba.

Inter went close to scoring a third goal just minutes later as Stankovic shot wide from a good position after a combination between Zé Maria and Adriano on the right wing.

Just four minutes into the second half as Austrainlien midfielder Mile Sterjovski, just inside the penalty area, controlled a cross from his left to dribble past Stankovic and score with an exact right-foot shot.

After just four minutes Christian Giménez was unlucky not to score, his close-range header hit the post after Mile Sterjovski had nodded forward a right-wing cross from Julio Hernán Rossi.

With their only real chance of the first half they took the lead as a through-ball from Aleksandr Shmarko beat the Basel offside trap and Andrei Fedkov pushed the ball past keeper Pascal Zuberbühler in the 38th minute.

This tactical move paid-off as in the 89th minute Delgado crossed from the left after a corner-kick and Brazilian right back Kléber nodded the ball home to give Basel a 2–0 win and a 3–1 on aggregate.

On matchday one Basel played in the Arena AufSchalke in front of an attendance of 52,870 spectators in Gelsenkirchen against German team Schalke 04, who had won the Intertoto Cup in August.

The Swiss Super League leaders started fast and confident into the game, pushing Schalke back with early attacks.

Julio Hernán Rossi's corner-kick from the left was met well by Benjamin Huggel who headed toward goal from close range, but keeper Frank Rost was able to push the ball away to safety.

In the 82nd minute an impressive free-kick from substitute Matías Delgado, who curled his shot over the wall and left keeper Rost stranded at the wrong side of the goal.

Basel captain Murat Yakin could not play due to his sustaining back injuries, striker Mladen Petrić was out injured and midfielder Ivan Ergic was also ruled out ill.

Basel started well into the game and their striker Christian Giménez slashed a hard shot towards the far corner of the goal in the opening minutes, which needed a good save from keeper Craig Gordon.

Hearts' last-gasp winner, in the 89th minute, was more a speculative attack and was made only to relieve the defensive pressure, but it paid off as Robbie Neilson pushed his shot under the body of goalie Zuberbühler with only seconds left on the clock, his first ever goal for the club.

[15] Matchday four saw Basel play the away tie at the Stadium Puskás Ferenc with some 22,000 spectators against Ferencvárosi TC under referee Vitaliy Godulyan (Ukraine).

Basel started, as ever, fast and dominant into the game, and because head-coach Christian Gross had lined up a three-man attack, this formation led to a number of early chances.

In the 8th minute Julio Hernán Rossi fed Christian Giménez with a good pass, he crossed from the left, but striker César Carignano was unable to put the visitors ahead.

Basel also had a height advantage at set-pieces and one minute later, Marco Zwyssig rose highest to head Sébastien Barberis' free-kick, but the effort went narrowly wide.

Then he switched over to the other wing four minutes later and combined with Julio Hernán Rossi, who in turn crossed to Mile Sterjovski and his header found the target, but was disallowed due to an offside position.

However, Basel defended well and they still created the better chances, Rossi forced a good save from keeper Patrick Lodewijks, Scott Chipperfield headed a cross just wide of the post and Giménez tested the goalkeeper again with a powerful left-footed drive.

The Swiss champions Basel, who returned for the first time to competitive football following their two-month domestic winter break, played strongly in the opening period, but they had nothing to show despite their early efforts.

Lille responded and full-back Grégory Tafforeau hit a strong drive from the distance, but the ball flew passed the wrong side of the far post.

Basel became even stronger as the match progressed, Christian Gross' men definitely controlled the game in the second half, but they were denied on several occasions by Sylva.