Philipp Degen

He was substituted in the 54th minute for Mario Cantaluppi, who had suffered a knee injury.

Degen played his domestic league debut with the team in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 2 December as Basel were defeated 4–5 by Grasshopper Club.

Basel started well into the second part of the season and during this period FCB played their best football, pulling away at the top of the table and subsequently achieved the championship title prematurely.

Philipp Degen (born 15 February 1983) is a retired Swiss professional footballer.

Degen was usually a right back who could also play at left back or on the right wing.

In the summer of 1995, they moved to the youth department of FC Basel, playing in their U-18 and U-21 teams.

Philipp Degen advanced to Basel's first team for their 2001–02 season under head coach Christian Gross.

Basel played in the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

After playing in five test games, Degen played his team debut coming in as substitute in the away game on 8 July 2001 as Basel won 2–0 against Grindavík.

After playing in two further test games, he played his first Swiss Cup game in the away game on 10 November as Basel won 5–0 against local club Concordia.

Basel won the last game of the season, on 8 May 2002, and became champions ten points clear at the top of the table.

Just four days later they played in the cup final against Grasshopper Club winning 2–1 in extra time and they won the double.

In his second season with the team Degen came to more playing practice, because right back Massimo Ceccaroni had retired from active football.

Basel ended their league season as runners-up, but in the cup they advanced to the final and here they beat Xamax 6–0 to defend the title that they had won a season earlier.

As cup winners Basel were qualified for the UEFA Cup first round and here they beat Malatyaspor 3-2 on aggregate due to the silver goal rule.

However, in the second round they lost both games against Newcastle United.

Degen played in all four matches.

In their 2003–04 season Degen became regular starter and scored his first goal for the team in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 26 July 2003.

It was the first goal of the game as Basel won 4–2 against Xamax.

The team started well into the 2003–04 league season, winning their first 13 matches straight out.

The first defeat came on matchday 24.

Basel won the championship with 26 victories and seven draws, the team had suffered just three away defeats, and obtained 85 points.

Degen played in 32 of the 36 matches.

However in the cup they were eliminated early, in round three.

As reigning Swiss champions, Basel entered 2004–05 UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round, however, drawn against Internazionale, who won the qualifier 5–2 on aggregate.

Basel subsequently dropped into the 2004–05 UEFA Cup.

Beating Terek Grozny in the first round, Basel qualified for the group stage.

A 1–1 draw away against Schalke 04 was followed by a home defeat against Hearts.

But with two victories, 2–1 away against Ferencvárosi TC and 1–0 at home against Feyenoord, saw Basel rise to third place in the group table and advance to the knock-out stage.

Basel completed all the 2004–05 Super League season's seventeen home games undefeated, winning thirteen and drawing four.

They ended the season as Swiss champions with 10 points advantage over second placed Thun.

In the round of 32 in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, a home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 17 February 2005, Basel played a goalless draw against Lille OSC, but the return leg was defeated 2–0 and were eliminated.

Degen played in all ten European matches.

Degen reached the last 16 in the 2006 World Cup with Switzerland and was selected again for Euro 2008 but did not play any games.

He began his professional career at the local Swiss club FC Basel, playing four seasons in the first team before moving to Borussia Dortmund.

He spent three years at the German club, his last season being marred by injury.

Degen signed for Liverpool on a free transfer on 3 July 2008, his stay at Liverpool was also blemished by many injuries.

His Liverpool contract was terminated by mutual consent on 31 August 2011 and he returned to Basel.

Degen ended his professional career at the end of season 2015/16 with a total of eight Swiss championship titles.

Degen played his youth football, together with his twin brother David, with local amateur club FC Oberdorf.