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Storm up against wingless Black Eagles at Avni Aker
Any Trabzon-Beşiktaş encounter is never a dull affair and the one this evening is not at all expected to be different. The only thing is that defending champion Beşiktaş has been reduced to bare bones due to injuries.
First-choice keeper Rüştü Reçber, defender İbrahim Toraman, German midfielder Fabian Ernst and Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci all missed Wednesday’s Champions League Group B match against German champion VfL Wolfsburg at İstanbul’s İnönü Stadium. And without these key players, the highly depleted Eagles were reduced to soccer novices by the German side, badly humiliated 3-0 and sent home empty-handed.
The saddest thing, though, is that this defeat put the Eagles on the verge of elimination from all European competitions this season. The unhappy fans unleashed their anger on Chairman Yıldırım Demirören, swearing and cursing at the embattled boss. And Demirören wept!
Infirmary full to the brim
Injured Nihat, Rüştü, Chile leftie Rodrigo Tello, Slovakia striker Filip Holosko and 18-year-old Turkey junior defender Rıdvan Şimşek missed Thursday’s training, and club doctor Devrim Urgun has said they will certainly be left behind in İstanbul.
The doctor also refuted claims that Ernst was suffering from swine flu. “It was just an intestinal tract infection,” he said. “Whether Ernst will recover in time for the [Trabzon] encounter will only be known by match time,” he added. Young winger Serdar Özkan is not injured, but he has shown a serious slump in form and is therefore very likely to be sidelined by coach Mustafa Denizli today. The Beşiktaş Black Eagles had jumped on the victory bandwagon in the domestic Super League, winning three in a row, including the pyrrhic home win over Ankaragücü last weekend. But the defeat by Wolfsburg meant the Eagles returning to square one again.
The darks clouds have returned thick and black, and so any slip or stumble in Trabzon this evening could result in a crisis of unimaginable proportions at the İstanbul club.
Golden opportunity for Storm
One man’s misfortune is another man’s gain. The Trabzon Black Sea Storm therefore has a chance to set the cat among the pigeons when it entertains troubled Beşiktaş this evening.
But the fact of the matter is that the Storm has serious problems of its own. It is placed sixth in the league with 18 points from five wins, three draws and three losses and the demanding fans are not one bit happy with this situation.
The Storm has not won the league championship since 1984 and Belgian coach Hugo Broos took over this season with a pledge to turn the tide in the Storm’s favor. But that has failed to materialize so far. The Storm was idle last weekend and will therefore be fresher than the Eagles, who played against Ankara last weekend and against Wolfsburg on Wednesday. Broos must find solutions to the Storm’s problems this evening. The once free-scoring Storm, which hit İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor for six (6-1) in week five, has been all over the place since then.
Strikers Umut Bulut and Gökhan Ünal have not only forgotten the art of scoring, but they also lack ideas on how to break solid defenses. Coach Broos, however, seems undaunted.
“They say we are not the favorites [today],” the Belgian stated in his packed midweek news conference. “But pre-match favorites in games like this usually falter.”
With the Eagles counting their walking wounded, this match could not come at a better time for the Storm. But the question is, “Can Trabzonspor deliver?”
Live on Lig TV
14:00 İstanbul BŞN vs. Antalyaspor
(referee Deniz Çoban)
20:00 Trabzonspor vs. Beşiktaş
(referee Kuddusi Müftüoğlu)
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