Eagles face another tricky test against old nemesis İstanbul BşB

The Eagles, who also clinched the Turkish Cup last season, have become unrecognizable. They were not only humiliated in the UEFA Champions League in the season’s first half, but were also eliminated from all European competitions and finished a distant sixth in the domestic league standings. The winter break was supposed to be a time of real soul-searching for the slumping Eagles and a time to right wrongs. But that was mere delusion as Beşiktaş literally jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.

The decline of Beşiktaş

How? The Eagles were eliminated from the Turkish Cup they won last season and therefore missed out on the quarterfinals. As if being eliminated from this competition wasn’t bad enough, the Eagles were “pointless” after losing all the three matches they played.

They were beaten 2-1 away by Super League newcomer Manisaspor, 3-1 at home by struggling Kasımpaşa and then 1-0 by İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor in a “mini” İstanbul derby at the Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadium. And the statistics show that they have not won in any of their last seven official matches. That İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor is one of the teams that added to the Eagles’ woes during the winter break gives added importance to their league match at İnönü this evening.

In other words, the Black Eagles, after a winter break that was characterized by groans and growls of frustration from exasperated fans, have a lot to prove when they take on Abdullah Avcı’s in what will indeed be a grudge match.

Injury and suspension woes

However, embattled Beşiktaş coach Mustafa Denizli faces injury and suspension problems. Long-term injury case Hakan Arıkan (goalkeeper), Germany-born defensive midfielder Uğur İnceman and winger Serdar Özkan are still at the club’s infirmary and thereby missed Thursday’s training sessions, while Italian defender Matteo Ferrari trained separately from the team. These players are doubtful today.

Defender İbrahim Kaş, given a three-match ban by the Professional Soccer Disciplinary Committee (PFDK) on Thursday for “unsportsmanlike behavior” after the cup debacle against İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor, will also be conspicuously missing this evening.

It was a breathless winter break and the Beşiktaş players looked far from rested and relaxed as a result of too many matches, dismal results and incredible pressure from the demanding fans and the merciless sports media. How the Eagles perform today could well affect the result of next week’s crucial extraordinary congress in which there will be voting to elect the club’s new rulers.

“Mr. Excuses” Denizli is talking less these days because his utterances seem to irk some disillusioned Beşiktaş fans. But last week he said, “We started badly and could not break a run of bad luck,” after the Eagles ouster from the cup. “The league is starting, and we will have to make amends. The league atmosphere is always different. We have to pull our act together, for there is no other choice. And we will badly need the help of our fans in doing so,” he further asserted.

Let’s see how under-fire Denizli will translate these words into deeds.

Cautious optimism

İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor coach Avcı likes to do the talking on the pitch. But the club’s director, Kamil Dizar, did the talking for him on Thursday.

“Beşiktaş may be going through hard times, but a team that won the league and cup double last season is no spring chicken,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough match and Beşiktaş has the advantage of playing on home turf. But, as usual, we will be aiming for a point or points,” he added.

Like Beşiktaş, İstanbul BsBelediyespor is also plagued by injuries: strikers Taner Gülleri, Gökhan Kaba, İbrahim Akın, winger Zeki Korkmaz, defenders Metin Depe and Mahmut Tekdemir, according to Dizar.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the referee will be Cüneyt Çakır.

Paşa not afraid of rampaging Crocs

The Bursaspor Green Crocs challenged Turkish soccer’s status quo by finishing third at the halfway point last month.

However, the Crocs’ ascent to the top will be tested when they face improving Kasımpaşa, coached by no-nonsense Yılmaz Vural, at the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium in İstanbul today. Young coach Ertuğrul Sağlam has taken Bursaspor to greater heights in Turkish soccer, but Paşa, as Kasımpaşa is commonly known, does not seem perturbed.

“It’s going to be a tough encounter, and it’s always tough against Bursa,” Paşa sports director Mehmet Süha Sidal said on Thursday. “We always aim for three points, and we will be aiming for maximum points against Bursa. Hopefully, we shall prevail,” he further stated.

Kickoff is at 2 p.m., and the referee will be Yunus Yıldırım. In the other Turkcell Super League match today, Eskişehirspor hosts Manisaspor in the match that will also start at 2 p.m. and will be refereed by Abdullah Yılmaz.

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Beşiktaş-İstanbul BşB    19:00