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Demoralized Black Eagles face acid test away at Sivas
The Eagles are not in the best of moods going into this game, having lost their last three consecutive games without scoring a single goal. They lost 1-0 away to Kayserispor in week 23, were beaten at home by the same score by Mersin İdman Yurdu in week 24 and wrapped up a dismal run with a derby defeat against Fenerbahçe.
Furthermore, Beşiktaş takes on Portuguese side Braga away on Feb. 14 in their UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg match. As is known, Braga is not only the place where Beşiktaş’s Portuguese coach Carlos Carvalhal was born, but it is also the team where he began his professional football career and later coached.
The Eagles are therefore in dire need of something to boost morale ahead of the Braga encounter to turn the return in İstanbul into a formality. That morale is expected from Sivas on Monday, but the fact of the matter is that the odds seem stacked against the Eagles.
Sivas is one of the coldest cities in the land and the weather forecast for Monday evening is minus 10 degrees Celsius. And so the Eagles will not only be doing battle against Çalımbay’s men at 4 Eylül, but also against Mother Earth.
Moreover the Eagles, as was the case in Sunday’s match at Fenerbahçe, have been reduced to bare bones due to injuries and suspensions.
The walking wounded -- midfielders Mehmet Aurelio, Portugal striker Hugo Almeida, defenders Roberto Hilbert, İsmail Köybaşı, Atınç Nukan and keeper Rüştü Reçber -- missed practice sessions this week and so are doubtful on Monday. And the long list continues with Portugal midfielder Julio Regufe Alves, who has been floored by a throat infection.
Red-card prone Portuguese playmaker Ricardo Quaresma, who was suspended on Sunday, will again be absent on Thursday since he is serving a two-match suspension. But his compatriot Manuel Fernandes, who has served out his suspension, is sure to take his place in the midfield.
Sivas set for Eagles
Sivasspor coach Çalımbay is a legendary Beşiktaş player and captain. But the central Anatolian team vying for a playoff berth at the end of the regular season is expected to compound Beşiktaş’s problems, not alleviate them.
Beşiktaş won 3-1 when the two teams faced off in İstanbul in week nine on Oct. 30. And so for the “Yiğidolar” (Bravemen), as Sivasspor is popularly called, it is going to be a grudge game.
Syllogistically, however, the Yiğidolar have a chance on Monday because they beat visiting Fenerbahçe 2-0 in week 10 on Nov. 4. Put another way, if Sivasspor beats Fenerbahçe and Fenerbahçe beats Beşiktaş, then Sivasspor can beat Beşiktaş. But syllogisms have no place in football and so this kind of reasoning is only real in the realms of fantasy. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
“Our aim is to finish in the top four and qualify for the playoffs,” Carvalhal, who knows that leading the league at the end of the regular season does not make a team champion anymore in the Super League, said after Sunday’s defeat to Fener.
“There hasn’t been a time that I thought we will not make the playoffs. I am very confident we will be there and will do our best to emerge as champions,” he added.
Karabük in İstanbul
Also on Thursday, İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor hosts upbeat Kardemir Karabükspor in a match that was called off in week 24 on Feb. 2 due to heavy snowfall in İstanbul. The interesting thing is that heavy snow is forecast for İstanbul on Thursday and pundits are wondering if this game will take place.
The other aspect of this match, if it takes place, is that the coaches of both teams -- Arif Erdem of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor and Kardemir Karabükspor’s Bülent Korkmaz -- are former Galatasaray teammates. It is therefore going to be a clash of old friends, not foes. The game starts at 4 p.m.
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