Canaries at Steaua Bucharest, Dinamo Bucharest in İstanbul

The Fener Yellow Canaries are hoping their walking wounded recover before the all-important encounter against Steaua at the 27,557-capacity Steaua Stadium this evening. The depleted Canaries' lead over the Galatasaray Lions at the top of the domestic Turkcell Super League was reduced to just two points after they were beaten 2-1 on the road by Gaziantepspor on Sunday and Galatasaray managed to beat Trabzonspor 4-3 at home.

Fener injury woes

The Canaries, unbeaten in their first eight domestic matches before Sunday, were without injured Brazilian captain-playmaker Alex De Souza, Spanish striker Dani Gonzalez Güiza, Brazilian midfielder Deivid De Souza and Uruguay defender Diego Lugano in the match against Antep.

Without these key players, the Canaries looked ordinary; little surprise they bit the dust and their bid for a nine out of nine record went up in smoke.

Some or all of these injured are doubtful against Steaua today. There are reports that Alex and Lugano could recover for this match, but Deivid and Güiza are definitely out. If Alex, considered equal to half the Fener team, plays today, then the Canaries have a chance. But if he is not fit, then the going could get tougher for Fenerbahçe.

“It's going to be a tough match for us and them [Steaua] as well,” Fener's German coach Christoph Daum said this week. “But we know how to deal with difficult situations and will deal with this one as well.”

The Canaries, with three points from one win and one loss -- they lost 2-1 at home to Dutch side Twente and won 1-0 at Moldova's Sheriff -- in Group H, cannot afford to slip or stumble in Bucharest.

Steaua got a morale booster for this evening's match after beating Politehnica Iasi 2-0 away in the domestic league on Sunday. With 18 points from five wins, three draws and two defeats, Steaua is placed fourth in the 18-team Romanian league, so the Canaries must guard against complacency.

Concentration test for Lions

The Galatasaray Lions will be facing another test of their concentration when they host Dinamo 1948 Bucharest this evening. Concentration, or more accurately the lack of concentration, is almost synonymous with the Lions nowadays.

 In the domestic league on Sunday the Lions almost blew a 2-0 lead against Trabzonspor before eventually winning 4-3. They fared far worse in week 8 when they were beaten 3-0 away in the capital with late goals by struggling Ankaragücü in a match in which they should have scored a hatful of goals. Galatasaray Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard and his players all blamed a concentration lapse for that defeat.

On Sunday the Lions face Fenerbahçe in the “mother of all derbies” at the FB Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Kadiköy, where the Lions have not won in over a decade. The Lions, the leaders in Group F, therefore must keep the Fener match off their minds this evening and concentrate only on Dinamo Bucharest if they are to consolidate their lead in this tight group.

The Lions started their Europa League campaign with a bang, beating Greek side Panathinaikos 3-1 away on Matchday 1. But they were just lucky at home against Sturm Graz on Matchday 2, when they came from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw from the jaws of defeat.

The Galatasaray defense is as porous as a polo, and Sunday's lucky win over Trabzonspor did not conceal the flaws in the team's defense. Rijkaard therefore must act with alacrity to right this wrong.

Turkey defender Servet Çetin likes to go forward in search of goals, especially during corner kicks, but he returns late, thereby leaving gaping holes in the midfield and defense. Servet should not be allowed to go beyond the center circle.

The same applies to midfielders Ayhan Akman and Mustafa Sarp. In a nutshell, everyone on the Galatasaray team wants to score, forgetting the old soccer adage that defense does win championships.

Galatasaray has conceded six goals in its last two domestic league matches -- three against Ankaragücü and three against Trabzonspor -- and that is really a cause for concern. Rijkaard has pledged to do something about the whole team, not only the defense.

“If we concede easy goals, then it means the whole team is bad,” the Dutchman told reporters. “It means the midfield is bad and also means the offense is bad because they do not rush back to defend [in times of need]. This mentality we must change, not only the defense,” he added.

That whole mentality has to change because Dinamo Bucharest is no spring chicken. With 17 points from five wins, two draws and three losses, Dinamo is sixth in the Romanian league and looks capable of giving the Lions as much as it takes -- or even more.