Completely crazy results! Swiss surprise champions FC Thun suffer a dramatic collapse | Goal.com

Published on 21 Aug 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes

FC Thun's 7-0 defeat to Lech Poznan in Thursday's first leg of their Europa League play-off was one for the record books. The Swiss side equalled the heaviest defeat ever suffered by a Swiss club in Europe. Only FC Basel had previously lost by the same scoreline, when Bayern Munich beat them 7-0 in the Champions League last 16 in 2012. "Lech Poznan! Thun sink in Poland," headlined the tabloid Blick , which called it the "shame of Poznan". 

It could easily have been worse. Thun were 5-0 down by half-time and conceded again straight after the break. The Polish hosts then took their foot off the gas, managed the game and waited until late on to add the final goal for 7-0.

Having crashed out to Dinamo Zagreb after extra time in Champions League qualifying at the end of July, Thun now look set to miss out on the Europa League too. If they go out against Poznan, they will at least have a place in the Conference League league phase.

Domestically, things are not going much better either. After opening with a 3-1 win over FC Luzern, Thun have since been hammered by Young Boys Bern (6-0) and FC Basel (4-2).

Last season, Thun sensationally stormed to the first title in the club's history as a promoted side, with a no-name squad and no expensive transfers. Since then, the club from the small town of the same name, home to only 45,000 people, has started to fall apart.

Title-winning coach Mauro Lustrinelli left for Union Berlin. Gian-Luca Privitelli replaced him. The 48-year-old has no experience in the professional senior game, having previously spent many years working as a youth coach for various Swiss clubs.

Following the debacle in Poznan, he admitted tactical mistakes, saying his team had kept pressing bravely even after going 3-0 down instead of limiting the damage, and that "is on me".

Privitelli has won only three of his first nine competitive matches this season. Those victories came in the opening league game, in the cup against amateur side FC Saxon Sports and at home against Iceland's Vikingur Reykjavik in Europa League qualifying. The pressure on him has been huge for some time, and a sacking could now be looming.

As well as coach Lustrinelli, sporting director Dominik Albrecht also left the club recently. At the start of August, right in the middle of the transfer window, he unexpectedly stepped down because he wanted to spend more time with his family. His successor is 33-year-old Simone Rapp, who was still playing for FC Wil this summer and, like coach Privitelli, is completely inexperienced.

At the same time, Thun have lost a number of key players, and the exodus has been particularly brutal in attack. Christopher Ibayi, Ethan Meichtry, Elmin Rastoder and Leonardo Bertone, the four top scorers from the title-winning season, have already gone. Joint fifth in the club's internal ranking were Kastriot Imeri and Valmir Matoshi.

Imeri was only at Thun on loan from Bern, and a permanent deal collapsed because of the finances. There are no major backers in Thun, and the financial situation is fairly tight despite the title. In any case, Imeri returned to his parent club, faced his former team-mates on matchday two and scored straight away in Bern's 6-0 win.

Matoshi, meanwhile, is on the verge of a move to Sturm Graz. Left-back Michael Heule, who had a decisive hand in three goals conceded against Poznan, is set to join Bundesliga-relegated side 1. FC Heidenheim for around three million euros.

So far, Thun have not brought in any high-calibre reinforcements. They paid one million euros for 19-year-old Italian striker Riccardo Braschi from Fiorentina, but he has played only 20 minutes this season. Otherwise, most of the arrivals have come from Switzerland's lower divisions or smaller international leagues.

According to specialist portal Transfermarkt , Thun's squad has the fourth-lowest combined market value among the 12 clubs in the Swiss top flight. But that does not have to mean much. Even in last season's title-winning campaign, Thun had a significantly cheaper and less prominent squad than their wealthier rivals from the football strongholds of Basel, Bern and Zurich.

Currently, Thun sit ninth in the league and have the worst defence in the division, with 11 goals conceded in three matches. In some ways, the collapse had already started in the closing weeks of last season. Thun lost six of their final eight league matches, but an enormous lead meant the title was never seriously under threat.

On the penultimate matchday, they were thrashed 8-3 by Bern, and that is still having an effect now. Captain Marco Bürki, the brother of former BVB goalkeeper Roman, saw red for violent conduct and received a five-match suspension. He therefore missed the start of the league season. Curiously, Thun also fell apart in the Champions League exit in Zagreb after leading 2-0 once Bürki was sent off.

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