There are moments in football when you stop looking too far ahead because the present already feels unreal. This is one of those moments. Destiny is in our hands. A phrase I do not use lightly, but one that feels appropriate as I sit here trying to process how far this group has carried Chur. Following our shock win over Basel, the draw has handed us a home semi-final against a fourth-tier side. On paper, it is an opportunity. In reality, it is a responsibility. A chance to reach our first ever competitive final, knowing full well that victory would open the door to something even more improbable, a path toward Europe that barely felt imaginable when I first arrived here.

The fact that we are even discussing this speaks volumes. We have beaten two top-tier sides along the way, and while context matters, and Thun did field a youthful team, football does not remember caveats. It remembers results. It remembers nights. This run already feels like a dream, one built on courage, organisation, and a belief that has grown quietly but stubbornly within this club.

Our journey here has been anything but gentle. Schaffhausen, from the second tier, pushed us into extra time before we broke them 4-1, legs heavy but minds clear. Thun followed, a 4-1 win against a Super League side that arrived without their senior stars but still wearing the weight of their badge. Locarno were next, a fourth-tier opponent, but a game that demanded professionalism more than romance. Eight goals later, we moved on without losing focus. Then Basel. One-nil after extra time. A result that still feels fragile when I think about it, as if it might disappear if I examine it too closely. Basel, with all their history, all their infrastructure, beaten by a club from Graubünden that not long ago was fighting for relevance.

And now Allschwil.

A small club from just outside Basel, founded in 1907, carrying more than a century of quiet footballing existence. For most of their life, they have lived in the 2. Liga Interregional and below, rarely drawing attention, rarely dreaming too loudly. Promoted in 2026, they now sit tenth in the 1. Liga, and this cup run represents the greatest chapter in their history. Their path to the semi-final has been hard-earned and honest. Kreuzlingen, Linth 04, Naters Oberwallis, and then Cham, edged on penalties. No glamour, no shortcuts, just survival and belief.

I recognise something of ourselves in that. Which is why I will take nothing for granted.

Cups have a way of punishing arrogance and rewarding clarity. There are no favourites once the ball starts moving, only teams willing to suffer and stay true to themselves. We have earned the right to be here, but nothing more than that. The idea of a final, of rewriting what Chur believes is possible, flickers at the edge of my thoughts, but I push it away. Not yet.

For now, there is only preparation, respect, and the quiet understanding that moments like this do not come often. Destiny may be in our hands, but it is fragile. And we will hold it carefully.