Football Season Guide

Luzern have had a roller coaster of a season last time around but eventually managed to qualify for Europe by the skin of their teeth. It was therefore a decent campaign for the Blues on overall and they will enter the new campaign with hope, having significantly improved after Thomas Haberli was appointed their manager during the second half of the previous season. Their squad has not changed too much over the summer. They have decided to undergo a clearout of sorts, with numerous fringe players leaving, while club stalwart Claudio Lustenberger has retired. The sole key player to have left is Ruben Vargas, who signs for Augsburg, and the club tried to address his departure with the signing of two strikers in the experienced Francesco Margiotta from Lausanne and the promising Aziz Binous from Zurich. The squad therefore looks to be on a similar level as last time around, but there is obviously room for improvement. They only started playing consistently well in the late stages of the previous campaign and, with the league seemingly wide open, can hope for an even higher finish if they manage to do that. While Luzern have qualified for Europe several times over the last ten years or so, they had no memorable continental campaigns and had numerous disappointing exits. They are not exactly expected to make the Europa League group stage, but a change of pace and a decent run in the qualifiers would be seen as a big plus.