The Schweizer Cup has a habit of revealing truths clubs don’t always intend to show. On a quiet evening in Meyrin, Chur’s second-round tie against fourth-tier opposition became less about progression and more about intent – not shouted, not embellished, but calmly laid out in plain sight. This was not a team sent to manage risk. It was a team sent to be watched.

Six academy players started. Not as passengers, not protected by experience, but placed deliberately into the structure. Guiliano Graf and Nelio Cortesi across the back, Marvin Hodler asked to hold his nerve in midfield, Andrea Favara trusted between the lines, Mario Silva wide, Jonathan Caramés leading the line. When Habib Sedoum and Raffael Andreas emerged from the bench later on, the evening had already shifted from cup tie to quiet exhibition of what the future may hold in Graubunden.

Arriola’s side built aggressively, settling into a 2-3-5 shape that immediately tilted the pitch. 16-year old Cortesi tucked inside from left-back, far more aggressively than Llumnica – probably to be expected from a natural midfielder, forming a narrow midfield line with Holder and Farinas that allowed the latter to drift freely. The ball moved quickly but never hurried, the tempo controlled by spacing rather than speed. Meyrin defended deep, but more tellingly, they defended narrow, their lines compact yet constantly manipulated. To combat this, up front, nothing stayed still. Caramés did not behave like a striker in the traditional sense. He dropped, connected, reappeared. Each movement pulled a defender, each absence created a question. Zidan Tairi and, later in the game, Xabier Iriondo answered those questions by running beyond him, attacking the spaces he deliberately vacated. It felt less choreographed and more intuative – movements repeated often enough in training to look instinctive rather than rehearsed.

The goal arrived eventually, which somehow made it feel inevitable. Farinas, roaming where he pleased, found Silva in space. The cross came early, before Meyrin could reset, and Caramés – having moments earlier been nowhere near the box – was suddenly exactly where he needed to be. One touch, one finish, debut goal.

Caramés’ numbers, on debut, were fantastic – 0.63 xG, 0.21xA, four shots on target, a key pass, a chance created – but the real impression was far more subtle. He looked comfortable doing the uncomfortable things: dropping into half spaces, playing with his back to goal, trusting that others would attack the space he left behind. Player of the Match was very much deserved.

When the final whistle came, there was no sense of escape. Just quiet completion. Chur moved into the next round with a clean sheet and a narrow scoreline, but the margin told only part of the story. This felt like a glimpse forward – not a promise of domination, but a statement of direction. Youth trusted. Ideas tested. Principles held, even when the stakes invited simplification