Mohamed Salah and Al-Nenni had a hectic and nerve-wracking 10 days as they had to play three games in that period including two games against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Salah and Al-Nenni had a very difficult choice to make regarding travelling to Israel to play the second leg of the Champions League qualifier as Egyptian fans were divided in their opinion concerning the matter. Some wanted professionalism from our stars and some others wanted them to refuse to go to Israel no matter what. At the end of the day, the decision was in the hands of Basel's manager Hakan Yakin who decided to take both of them to Israel. Over the two legs, Salah was arguably the star of the show as he played two excellent games. In the first game in Switzerland, Basel managed to beat the Israeli team by a single goal in which Salah had a huge part to play in. He exchanged passes brilliantly with Stocker and Streller until the ball reached Stocker once again who slotted home to score the only goal of the game. Salah himself had several chances to score but was denied by the keeper and last-minute blocks. Al-Nenni had a great game as well in the middle of the park and looked calm from the start of the game until he left the pitch in the 76th minute when he got tired. However, it was the second leg in Israel where Salah really showed admirable composure and professionalism in very difficult circumstances when he guided Basel to the final qualifying round as he scored a goal, played a part in another and set up plenty of chances throughout the game as it ended in a 3-3 draw. Salah scored the first goal of the game after slotting the ball into the back of the net with his weaker right foot. The magnificent finish from the Egyptian star who got booed from Israeli fans during the 90 minutes pushed Basel forward as they managed to add another two goals before conceding three goals. Al-Nenni started the game on the bench and came on in the 75th minute in place of man of the match Salah. Moving to the Swiss league, Basel suffered their first defeat of the season as they lost to Zurich 2-1 at home. Despite the defeat, Salah played a magnificent match and could have left the game with two or three assists at the very least. Salah's teammates squandered one chance after another throughout the game and could have easily snatched a point from the visitors. Salah's dangerous crosses and killer passes were present during the 90 minutes in addition to testing the keeper twice but it simply wasn't Basel's day as they drop to fourth in the league table. Hossam Ghali and Ahmed Samir Farag of Belgium's Lierse SK continued their terrible start to the season as they played two games in the past 10 days, losing the first and drawing the second. In their first game they lost 3-0 against league leaders Standard Liege. Both Ghali and Farag played the full game but could do nothing to prevent their mediocre team from conceding three times. Ghali was one of the better performers on his team and showed his class with some key passes. Farag, meanwhile, struggled against Liege's wingers but still had a decent game. In their second game, even though they collected their first point of the season from three games, Lierse will surely need to improve their results to avoid a repeat of last season's nerve breaking escape from relegation. The game was against Circle Bruge and ended in a 1-1 draw at home. Ghali and Farag played the full game yet again as their team gave away their lead and conceded 13 minutes from time to end the game in a disappointing draw that leaves them in the 15th place out of 16 teams. Moving to England, Ahmed Al-Mohamadi suffered a groin injury in Hull City's last preseason game as they defeated Real Betis 3-0. Al-Mohamadi played the whole game and had an impressive outing on the right flank as usual. His crosses and acceleration caused all sorts of problems for the Spanish club as they couldn't cope with Al-Mohamadi's speed. The extent of his injury is unclear as he faces a race with time to be ready for the league's kick off against Chelsea. Adam Al-Abd started the season with Brighton in very disappointing fashion in terms of everything. First, he watched the first two games of the season from the bench and didn't see any action as Brighton suffered two defeats in their opening two games. They lost both these games 2-1 against Leeds United and Derby County respectively. Al-Abd will be hoping to get back in the team after two defeats that saw the team concede four goals and defend terribly.
