Dimitri Oberlin stars on his birthday as Basel rout Benfica

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:40 am

Basel's Dimitri Oberlin celebrated his 20th birthday in style with two goals and an assist to lead a 5-0 rout of Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

It was quite a start for the Switzerland youth international making his first Champions League start on loan from Austrians champions Salzburg.

Michael Lang put the hosts in front after just two minutes after Benfica keeper Julio Cesar came off his line to interrupt Oberlin's through ball. But Oberlin jumped on the loose ball and alertly passed across for Lang to slot home.

Oberlin then doubled the hosts' lead in the 20th minute on a remarkable counter-attack that he started by heading away a corner to a teammate. He then raced the length of the pitch before receiving the ball back to score.

In the second half, Oberlin drew a penalty that Ricky van Wolfswinkel despatched to make it 3-0 on the hour mark, and it got worse for Benfica three minutes as Andre Almeida was sent off for a shocking two-footed challenge.

Oberlin then picked off a poor Benfica pass to score Basel's fourth, and Blas Riveros added a fifth when the ball came back to him after a fine run into the box, just seconds after Basel hit each post with back-to-back shots.

Dimitri Oberlin of FC Basel
Dimitri Oberlin of FC Basel
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

Basel are second in Group A behind Manchester United, which won 4-1 at CSKA Moscow to follow its 3-0 home win over the Swiss two weeks ago.

It was quite a start for the Switzerland youth international making his first Champions League start on loan from Austrian title-holder Salzburg.

Basel's new management team began the game under pressure from a poor start to the season for the eight-time defending Swiss champions. Though losing at Man United was no surprise, Basel languish in fourth place in their home league.

Television cameras caught sporting director Marco Streller -- a former Basel forward appointed this year by the club's new ownership -- reacting with evident relief to the early lead.

Coach Raphael Wicky, in his first season of senior management at any club, punched the air wildly at each goal.