As we mentioned in Thursday’s newspaper, a Beşiktaş-Fenerbahçe match is not as dangerous as the “mother of all derbies” between Fenerbahçe and the Galatasaray Lions, but it is always a tense affair because the victor also wins the bragging rights.After a bad start to the Turkcell Super League season, five straight wins have moved defending champion Beşiktaş up to third place in the 17-team standings, seven points behind leader Fenerbahçe.
The Eagles’ recent good form faces a tough test this evening against the rampaging Fener Canaries, the team with the best record in the league so far. Played 12, won 10, drawn one, lost one, 25 goals for, seven against -- those are the Fenerbahçe statistics.
Beşiktaş defense
The Black Eagles have conceded the least number of goals in the league thus far. They have won seven, drawn three, lost two, with 13 goals for and only six against. That the Eagles conceded three of these six goals in a single match during their 3-0 away loss to the Galatasaray Lions means they have conceded only three goals in the other 11 outings.
A Beşiktaş victory will put the Eagles just three points behind the Canaries, a team they once trailed by as many as 12 points earlier this season, thereby boosting their hopes of retaining the title they won last season.
But a Fener win would again raise the pressure on under-fire coach Mustafa Denizli and Chairman Yıldırım Demirören. The fact of the matter is that while the Eagles seem to have rebounded in the domestic league, they are still whipping boys in Europe with only a draw in four Champions League Group B matches. Their chances of survival are as flimsy as gossamer and their faithful adherents do no not like this situation one bit.
No one is gloating
Judging from the league standings, the Canaries are the favorites. But standings do not determine the outcome of İstanbul derbies. Both teams know this very well and so no side is gloating.
“Beşiktaş clinched the league and the cup double and so they cannot be taken for granted,” Fenerbahçe first-choice goalkeeper Volkan Demirel said on FB TV on Thursday. “But if we are well motivated, play well and put up a good fight, then we can take home the maximum points.”
His Brazilian teammate defensive midfielder, Cristian Mark Junio Nascimento Oliveira Baroni, concurred. “There is usually no clear-cut favorite in matches like this,” the Brazilian said. “However, very small details determine the outcome of derbies. And I think that our greatest advantage is that we have many experienced players.”
The Canaries trained mostly on tactics at their Can Bartu facilities on Thursday and Friday under the guidance of German coach Christoph Daum. Midfielder Selçuk Şahin and winger Uğur Boral, confined to bed because of illness, have recovered and also took part in the training sessions.
As usual Fenerbahçe will be banking its hopes on Brazilian captain-midfielder Alex De Souza to deliver the goods. If the diminutive Brazilian can find his rhythm, then the Canaries will need to fear no evil this evening.
But Daum will have to make the tough choice of whether to field either Spanish striker Dani Güiza or Turkish international Semih Şentürk alongside Kazım Kazım upfront.
Eagles camp
The Beşiktaş Black Eagles also trained, but behind closed doors, at BJK Nevzat Demir facilities on Thursday and Friday for this all-important match.
But the Eagles may have to make do with their junior goalkeeper Umut Kaya if injured first-choice keeper Rüştü Reçber and No. 2 Hakan Arıkan do not recover on or before match time. Arıkan missed this week’s training sessions while Reçber trained lightly with the rest of the team.
Additionally, several other familiar faces could be missing from the Beşiktaş line-up this evening. Long-term injury case Filip Holosko is one of them, while Nihat Kahveci and Rıdvan Şimşek are doubtful. And club doctor Devrim Urgun said they were doing everything humanly possible to make young defender İsmail Köybaşı fit for this evening’s match.
Beşiktaş’ greatest problem this season has been not scoring enough goals. Thirteen goals in 12 matches, that is not much by the standards of a Turkish champion. And to overcome this, strikers Bobo and Mert Nobre have perform better than they have done in previous matches.
Denizli thinks these strikers and the other players can. “We have been working on this goal-scoring problem all season long and we are seeing results,” he said, apparently referring to his team’s 2-0 away victory over Trabzon in week 11. “Hopefully we will continue our winning ways on Saturday [today],” he added. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. and the referee will be Fırat Aydınus. His assistants will be Bülent Gökçü and Bahattin Duran, while the fourth official will be Aytekin Durmaz.
The only other Super League match today pits Antep against Bursa. The game starts at 4 p.m. and will be refereed by Mustafa Kamil Abitoğlu.
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