Both teams entered the match with something to play for, which translated to plenty of early intent being shown with Jiri Panos seeing a shot saved while Xherdan Shaqiri looked to pull the strings.
Despite Plzen looking in more control with Merchas Doski seeing a header saved and Jonas Adjetey blocking Cheick Souare’s attempt, there was reason for concern at the other end as Sampson Dweh awkwardly turned Benie Traore’s cross behind for a corner that resulted in Adjetey working Florian Wiegele.
Basel soon returned to fighting against Plzen pressure, as Dominik Schmid blocked Vaclav Jemelka’s shot, Lukas Cerv fired wide and Adjetey stopped a Matej Valenta strike. Shortly after the half-hour mark, Panos darted into the RotBlau box and fizzed in a cross that took a deflection off Adjetey before Marwin Hitz reached it ahead of Tomas Ladra and eventually gathered.
But the visitors eventually went ahead in the 39th minute, when 18-year-old Panos was afforded all the space he could possibly want to convert from Doski’s deep corner with a clinical volley.
Basel goalkeeper Hitz was replaced by Mirko Salvi ahead of the restart following a collision with Doski in the first half, but Wiegele was the one being worked as the Austrian claimed Shaqiri’s corners and dived at Philip Otele’s feet to stop a threatening break.
Salvi was beaten by Souare on the hour mark, although he and Basel were saved by the Frenchman being marginally offside when the ball was crossed for him. The RotBlau weren’t giving up despite their precarious situation, and Shaqiri’s cross from a seemingly lost cause was met by a Jeremy Agbonifo header that forced an improvised save from Wiegele.
Souare then hit the side netting and Ladra’s acrobatic attempt went wide, but Dweh got enough on Ibrahim Salah’s strike to deflect it over the crossbar before Adjetey fired over from the ensuing corner.
Shaqiri then turned a horrible strike wide from a late opportunity, as Viktoria Plzen ended a run of four consecutive UEL draws to finish 14th and head into Friday’s play-off draw seeded. Meanwhile, Basel’s fourth UEL defeat in a row leaves them 30th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sampson Dweh (Viktoria Plzen)
View all of the match stats on Flashscore.