No room for error as Fener faces gritty Gençlerbirliği away

Unofficial leader Bursaspor leads the table with 52 points, followed by Galatasaray with 50 and Fenerbahçe and defending champion Beşiktaş with 48 each.

Therefore, there is absolutely no room for error as the Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries take on Gençlerbirliği, known in soccer circles as the “Ankara Wind,” in their Turkcell Super League week 25 match at the capital’s 19 Mayıs Stadium this evening.

The Canaries stumbled upon a winning formula last Sunday when they just managed to beat visiting Antalyaspor by the slightest of margins, 1-0, in their week 24 match at the FB Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in İstanbul to put an end to a seven-game winless streak in all competitions.

As a matter of fact, February, not April, is the “cruelest” month for the Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries as they won only one of their seven matches that month.

The Canaries started their February campaign on a winning note, bashing Bursaspor 3-0 in their Ziraat Turkish Cup match in İstanbul on Feb. 4. Thereafter a dark cloud descended over the Canaries, thick and black, and the freefall began. They drew 1-1 in the league with Diyarbakırspor in week 20 and 2-2 away with Manisaspor in week 21.

The Canaries lost 3-1 in the cup return leg at Bursa but nonetheless advanced 4-3 on aggregate to the semis against Manisaspor. They lost 2-1 at Lille in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 match and drew 1-1 at home in the return leg in İstanbul and were eliminated.

The Canaries were beaten 3-2 at home by Bursa in their week 22 game and 2-1 the following week by İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor before “breaking the devil’s leg” with a home victory over Antalyaspor last Sunday.

Daum undaunted

One sparrow does not a summer make. So can we say the Fenerbahçe Canaries have turned the corner after only one win in eight matches?

Yes, we can, saith Fener German coach Christoph Daum. “The league has reached a stage where dropping just one point [let alone three], could be suicidal,” the German said this week. “And we all are very well aware of this fact,” he also stated.

But Daum’s cause will not be helped by the fact that captain-playmaker Alex De Souza, arguably the best and most reliable player on the team, is suspended after he getting a direct red in the match against İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor.

Defenders Gökhan Gönül and Diego Lugano are nursing slight injuries and along with long-term injury case Uğur Boral and leftie Gökçek Wederson, who has the flu, missed Thursday’s training. But the club doctors have said Gökhan, Lugano and Wederson should be fit by match time.

“Everything is still possible in the league, and your fate is in your own hands,” Daum told his players during that practice session. “So you must keep your eyes on the prize,” he added.

Ankara Wind lying in ambush

Gençlerbirliği is highly depleted going into this evening’s match, and that could be a huge advantage for the desperate Canaries.

Gençler German coach Thomas Doll might even find it difficult forming a team as injured Croat defender Ivan Radeljic, striker Sinan Ayrancı and midfielders Abdülhamit Yıldız and Sabahattin Usta missed Thursday’s practice session. Defender Murat Kalkan was present but he only trained lightly.

Doll seemed undaunted even though he faces a serious shortage of first-choice players. And with Gençler desperate to beat the Canaries and avenge the 3-0 defeat in İstanbul in the season’s first half, the German focused all his attention on off-form defender Orhan Şam and off-form Amsterdam-born striker Hurşut Meriç, trying to do everything possible for them to regain form before this evening’s toughie.

“Fenerbahçe is one of the best teams in the land,” Doll said this week. “We respect every team, big or small, so we respect Fenerbahçe. But we need maximum points and therefore must go out there and put up a good fight against Fenerbahçe,” he further noted.

The Ankara Wind does not want to lose, the Canaries also, and so this evening’s match in Ankara promises to be a thriller. Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and the referee will be Mustafa Kamil Abitoğlu.

Live on LİG TV / 19:00 Gençlerbirliği vs. Fenerbahçe