What happened in Turkish football today? 01/10/2023

Fenerbahce gets confident win against Rizespor with 5:0 scoreline.

Fenerbahce got a confident win against Rizespor with 5:0 scoreline at home ground and has dominated game for 90 minutes and hence didnt only continues its winning run in all competitions but also starts getting confident results.

Fenerbahce has raised its winning run to 14th games in overall and 7 games in the league and most important it has scored 9 goals in last 2 games without conceding and hence becoming highly dominated game. It was expected for Fenerbahce to have tough as even through Rizespor is not in same calibre as Fenerbahce without doubt, it did have good start of the season but things didnt turn like that as it has shown strong and dominating game with getting chances back-to-back and could even scored even more goals. Most important thing in whole side that Fenerbahce is showing strong fighting spirit with fighting for every ball and using chances pretty effectively.  Fenerbahce did come out to a win without doubt but most important it did everything to get that win in much confident manner it can and has just done that. 

Rizespor it needs to be mentioned did create some chances in the attacking game but when looking in overall it couldnt provide much response to Fenerbahce strong and attacking game in the start. It would be important for Rizespor not to be affected too much morally in upcoming games and this needs to be most focussed aspect for technical staff.

Fenerbahce continues to winning games and now it continues to do with dominating game on field and would be waiting for Spartak Trnava with lots of optimism without doubt.

Galatasaray has won 2:1 games as a battle against Ankaragucu goalkeeper.

Galatasaray continues its winning performance with 2:1 win against Ankaragucu at the game where it has dominated game and has created chances back-to-back and opponents goalkeeper outstanding performance of Bahadir Gundogdu didnt let for much more goals to be scored during game.

Galatasaray it needs to be mentioned did provide its best performance since start of the season as it has dominated game with back-to-back and has provided so many shots onto goal that in normal circumstances it would have won with outstanding scoreline but it couldnt pass opponent goalkeeper Bahadir Gundogdu. It needs to be mentioned that main issue for Ankaragucu has been for other players at the field didnt provide similar performance with not able to get control of game both in defence and attack with only good attack did end with a goal. Galatasaray hence did get also an important confidence and motivation boost prior to Champions League game against Manchester United. It needs also to state that Wilfred Zaha has performed quite strong attacking game with finding an opening game and does provide some big hopes for upcoming games to fans.

Galatasaray hence did get a good win and did raise its winning run to 5 games and did get strong confidence boost against Manchester United in Champions League.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 7th week:

Fatih Karagumru 2:3 Kasimpasa 

Fenerbahce 5:0 Rizespor

Adana Demirspor 4:0 Alanyaspor

Konyaspor 0:2 Beisktas

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 7th week:

20:00 Kayserispor - Basaksehirspor

In other news:

- UEFA has announced referee of Champions League game between Manchester United between Galatasaray to be Ivan Kruziak

What happened in Turkish football today? 29/09/2023

Fenerbahce has dominated game against Basaksehirspor.

Fenerbahce has completed its task against Basaksehirspor during Super League postponed 3rd week game within 20 minutes due of very effective attacking game while Basaksehirspor during that time and afterwards didnt provide much pressure to opponents.

One of the key reasons why Fenerbahce is continuing its winning run during this season in this game has been of providing strong and attacking game from first minutes of the game and with finding 3 goals did set its task with rest of the game providing more controllable game. In fact, if Fenerbahce did continue showing such dominant game, it would have scored much more goals as Basaksehirspor didnt provide any response to its perofrmance. Therefore, this game has been characterised due of confident and strong performance of Fenerbahce and poor performance of Basaksehirspor. Fenerbahce is showing an improving by each game and there has been a big one since start of the season.

Hence, Fenerbahce is being on very condition right now and continues showing dominant performance on field as it doesnt like it would lose points any time soon.

Galatasaray could show signs of tiredness against Ankaragucu

Galatasaray would carry on its league performance at this tight schedule with an home game against Ankaragucu as it would be aiming to raise its winning run to 6 games.

Even through Galatasaray getting crucial points for title race, it is not still able to provide dominant game and tend to win games due of quality factor and with team likely also getting tired in recent weeks due of back-to-back games, it could be physically also have some issues with its performance. Even through Ankaragucu on their part doesnt provide same dominant game at away games as it does at home ground, it is still side which tends to show positive game and is side being good with counter-attacks so it could potentially provide some issues to Galatasaray. Galatasaray on their part could provide strong attacking game and look for an early goal which could be crucial for them.

Galatasaray playing at home as always is being favourite but Ankaragucu could provide some issues to them.

Pendikspor could show some surprises against Trabzonspor

It is hard to state how Trabzonspor would perform against Pendikspor as it is being side which is showing unstable performance but when looking in overall all games it could be stated that it has issues with showing organising game.

Trabzonspor would be coming out to Pendikspor as favourites due of quality factor of the squad and Pendikspor despite of being close to relegation zone with only 4 points does show good positive game which does need improvement and could be once again motivated highly to game as it was against Besiktas. In fact, if Trabzonspor does show similar game as did Besiktas, Pendikspor could be getting godo performance as Trabzonspor in some games does show that it has similar performance. Trabzonspor would see this game as turning point for them and would be aiming to get strong results but it needs to also organising performance to achieve that.

On paper, Trabzonspor does look like clear favourites but Pendikspor should not be ruled out in such tie.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 7th week:

Samsunspor 1:2 Gaziantep

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 7th week:

13:30 Sivasspor - Hatayspor

16:00 Istanbulspor-Antalyaspor

16:00 Trabzonspor-Pendikspor

19:00 Galatasaray-Ankaragucu

In other news:

- Alanyaspor has signed  shirt sponsorship deal with Kirbiyik Holding.

- Sivasspor player Gedson Fernandes has resumed training sessions after recovering from injury

- RizaCalimbay has stated that he did have talks with Samsunspor regarding head coach appointment but there is not deal yet.

- Galatasaray has offered extension contract to its player Sacha Boey until 2028 with rising salary from 500,000 euro to 1.5 million euro with 25 million euro release clause.

- Samsunspor are interested in appointing Atiba Hutchinson an Mehmet Topal as club's sports director.

What happened in Turkish football today? 28/09/2023

Fenerbahce got confident win against Basaksehirspor

Fenerbahce continues its winning run since start of the season with a confident win against Basaksehirspor at the game where it was coming out as favourite but it ended being much easier than expected as it got 3:0 leadership within 20 minutes.

Fenerbahce has starteg game at high tempo with looking into chances back-to-back and providing pressure to opponent defence which has led them to find 3 highly organised game within 20 minutes. Probably most important one in sense of event has been 1st goal of Djiku who as defender has provided guality shot on attackers level. It also needs to be stated that among all teams which did play in this postponed games has been Fenerbahce which could be described due of this winning run which keeps motivation and confidence towards players regardless how many games are being played. Meanwhile, Sebastian Szymanski who without doubt is being one of the main players in the team so far during this season has also rightfully become player of the game with finding 2 goals and also in general providing strong and confident performance in whole feed.

With Fenerbahce without doubt providing strong performance, it needs to be mentioned that one of the reason fro such outcome has been inactive performance of Basaksehirspor who did look slow and couldnt provide much pressure to Fenerbahce and didnt get hardly into any chances.

Fenerbahce are continuing its winning run and such confident win with good performance would provide even more confidence and motivation for a team in upcoming games for sure.

Besiktas performance got to its new low at game against Adana Demirspor.

Besiktas continues its decline of performance which it has shown in last few weeks this time losing to Adana Demirspor with 4:2 socreline during which time it was even losing with 4:0 scoreline and thats taking account of high number of absences of opponent.

Prior to game, it has been seen that Besiktas has been lucky to play against opponent where lots of players will not be able to play either due of injury or not being legitimate as this game has been postponed and didnt include some new transfers. However, Besiktas didnt show any strong performance with lacking tempo, lack of organising defensive game and in general didnt come to the game. This decline meanwhile has been observed at the team for some weeks as it did lose to Trabzonspor with 3:0 scoreline and has been very lucky to draw against Club Brugge. It needs to be stated that this game against Adana Demirspor wasnt one-off and performance does get worser and worser to which Senol Gunes does need to find solution.

Among top 4 clubs, Besiktas are showing most effective performance and things are getting worser for them in such early stages of the season.

Turkish National Team appoints Vincenzo Montella for 3-years

Turkish National Team has appointed Vincenzo Montella as its new head coach with a contract of 3-years as Italian coach did have very good results with Adana Demirspor and in fact does play an important role at current condition of his old club.

With being head coach of Adana Demirspor for 2-years he did manage to get good results and is familiar with Super League level of performance of the players so hence despite being a foreign coach he is familiar with Turkish football familiarity. It was also important to see that he was going frequently to the games in this league during past week taking look and notes for sure of possible players to be selected in few weeks time for Euro 2024 qualifiers. Prior to Stefan Kuntz resignation, our blog readers would be noticing that this blog did state that issue doesnt seem to be with coaches as similar issue does arise with previous coaches. Sadly, we could experience same fate as poor results would lead for Montella strong criticism from Turkish media.

Still,Montella does seem to be best candidate especially among foreign candidates and has all reasons to get some good results in upcoming period.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 3rd week:

Fenerbahce 4:0 Basaksehirspor(Game has been postponed due of Conference League play-off 2nd leg game between Fenerbahce and Twente)

Turkish Cup, 1st round:

Arguvan 2:1 Elazigspor

Adana 2:1 Osmaniyespor

Turkish Super League, 7th week:

20:00 Samsunspor-Gaziantep

In other news:

PFDK decisions:

- Ankaragucu recieves 240,000 TL fine for accepting unallowed fans.

- Konyaspor,  Basaksehirspor, Pendikspor recieve 112,000 TL fine for behaviour of fans.

- Rizespor, Hatayspor, Adana Demirspor for team-wise antisportmanship behaviour.

Hatayspor, Galatasaray, Pendikspor, Fenerbahce recieved blockage of stands for behaviour of fans.

- Adana Demirspor player Kevin Rodriguez recieves 2-game ban for serious foul.

- Alanyaspor head coach Omer Erdogan recieves 10game ban and 39,000 TL fine for anti-sportmanship behaviour.

- Fenerbahce recieves 307,000 TL fine for behaviour of fans, teamwise anti-sportmanship behaviour and statements regarding referee.

- Fenerbahce amdnunistrator Selahatin Baki recieves 200,000 TL fine for comments regarding referee.

- PFDK referalls:

- Istanbulspor has been referred for accepting unallowed supporters.

- AdanaDemirspor has been referred for not following guidelines.

- Besiktas has been referred for behaviour of fans and events on field.

- Besiktas has signed stadium sponsorship deal with Tupras 

- TurkishNationalTeam are interested to appoint Besiktas assistant coach Burak Yilmaz to same position.

- SergenYalcin has requested 45 million TL salary from Samsunspor.

What happened in Turkish football today? 27/09/2023

 

Adana Demirspor has outplayed Besiktas during whole game despite of significant absences.

Adana Demirspor which did come out with number of absences both due of injuries and also not being able to play players which were transferred after original date of this fixture has provided strong performance against Besiktas with winning game with 4:2 scoreline, while  winning at one point with 4:0 scoreline.

It needs to be stated in overall that Besiktas continues to show decline of its performance by each game and did show signs of decline as it didnt play a game which it has shown top and dominant game for 90 minutes. Starting from the game Adana Demirspor did look much more organised and attacking game while Besiktas defence especially made very simple mistakes as all of the goals which opponent scored did come from Besiktas losing concentration and among that it has also had numerous chances. Besiktas didnt provide much organising game and 2 goals which did come from them has been scored after 4:0 as Adana Demirspor did reduce tempo and also has shown sign of tiredness as this side didnt play in ideal starting 11. Meanwhile, Senol Gunes has also changed goalkeeper during half time as Mert Gunok did concede 2 goals but that wasnt an issue as same amount of goals has been conceded from Ersin Destanoglu during 2nd half.

Adana Demirspor has shown an outstanding game despite of having more than 7 absences from usual starting 11 and players which did come out has provided an optimistic game which without doubt would make Patrick Kluivert very happy and look forward for upcoming games.

Besiktas are continuing to be in decline with dropping into quality of performance by each week which without doubt does provide some serious worries to fans and head coach Senol Gunes who does need to find solution for this poor performance.

Icardi goalless saved him for criticism of penalty position.

Galatasaray has got a win against struggling Istanbulspor with minumum scoreline of 1:0 with goal from Mauro Icardi at the postponed Super League 3rd week game as most discussed moment of the game has been Kerem Akturkoglu and Mauro Icardi passing ball to each other during penalty position.

It needs to be mentioned that Galatasaray apart of 1st minutes of the game where it has created chances back-to-back to opponent goal didnt provide strong and dominating game with low tempo with playing in a manner that it would have won game. With taking opponent too lightly, as it only has 1 points after 4 weeks game could also cost heavily as Istanbulspor did create some good chances in the attack and didnt find that crucial goal to equalise due of lacking having quality attacker which is being main reason for lacking to find goals. Coming to the penalty position, taking account that game has been played at 0:0 scoreline this action has been unneccessarily and to some extend didnt give anything back as ball went out. After few minutes, Mauro Icardi did save himself by scoring as game would be remembered and highly criticised for that penalty position.

Galatasaray continues its winning run with this win but this game didnt let side to show its best performance at all.

Fenerbahce are being clear favourites agaisnt Basaksehispor

Fenerbahce would be aiming to carry on providing winning run of whole season to 13 games as it would be playing against Basaksehirspor which are struggling and didnt provide much good performance against Galatasaray during previous game.

In fact, it could be stated that Basaksehirspor would be playing against another of the top side from Super League as both Galatasaray and Fenerbahce so far during this season are showing best game in this league and hence Basaksehirspor would once again come into tough test with newly coach Cagdas Atan.Fenerbahce might be losing a bit of tempo in recent weeks but its strong side that team has been highly focussed in this period and keep providing strong attacking game looking for chances and having quality legs in attack who can convert chances. Therefore, Fenerbahce might be having some tough as it would be playing side which is very eager to win and get motivational boost with win against big club and have some good players, but Fenerbahce for sure are being favourites.

Therefore, Fenerbahce would be aiming to carry on its winning run and it does have capacity to do so against Basaksehirspor.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 3rd week:

Adana Demirspor 4:2 Besiktas (Game has been postponed due of both Adana Demirspor and Besiktas player Conference League 2nd leg game)

Turkish Cup, 1st round:

12 Bingol 1:2 23 Elazig

Bayburt 2:2 (pen: 3:4) Eynesil

Carsambaspor 1:7 Tokat

Erbaaspor 3:0 Fatsa Belediyespor

Kars 36spor P-P Dogubayazit

Mardin BB 4:1 Batman Petrolspor

Pazarspor 2:0 Gumushanespor

Sebat Genclikspor 4:0 Kelkit

Siirt Ozel 1:2 Sirnak

Sivas Belediyespor 2:0 Yeni Amasyaspor

1922 Konyaspor 1:1(pen:3:4) Talasgucu 

Anadolu Universitesi 1:2 Sincan

Burdur Mehmet 2:1 Tarsus

Hacettepe 1945 3:0 Kirikkale Buyuk Anadolu

Kumluca 0:2 Silifke

Bigaspor 0:0 (pen:4:1) Bilecik 1969

Bulvarspor 3:4 Karabuk Idmanyurdu

Bursa 2:0 Inegol Kafkas

Golcuktepe 3:0 Bartinspor

Sapanca Genclikspor 1:1 (pen: 4:3) Darica Genclerbirligi

Silivrispor 2:0 Ergene Velimese 

Sultanbeyli 1:3 Kucukcekmece

Turgutluspor1:3 Aliaga

Karsiyaka 2:0 Bergama Belediyespor

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 3rd week:

20:00 Fenerbahce-Basaksehirspor(Game has been postponed due of Conference League play-off round 2nd leg game between Twente-Fenerbahce)

Turkish Cup, 1st round:

13:00 Arguvan-Elazigspor

15:30 Adana-Osmaniyespor

In other news:

- TurkishNationalTeam has appointed Vincenzo Montella for 3-years as team's head coach.

- TurkishNationalTeam are interested to appoint Mehmet Topal as team's assistant coach.

- Samsunspor has terminated contract with its head coach Huseyin Eroglu.

- TFF has announced that it has terminated contract with company which is responsible for field condition at Ataturk Olympic Stadium

- AdanaDemirspor has made statement that its player Younes Belhanda who felt unwell at halftime during Besiktas game is being in good condition right now and for precaution will spend night at hospital.

- Trabzonspor has taken out article which states that club could be sold to foreigner at club charter.

- Fenerbahce are interested to transfer Arsenal player Jorginho.

- Samsunspor CEO Yuksek Yildirim has stated that club are having negotiations with Sergen Yalcin for head coach position.

What happened in Turkish football today? 26/09/2023

Galatasaray got win against struggling Istanbulspor with minumum score.

Galatasaray has managed to get win against struggling Istanbulspor with minumum scoreline as it has played with low tempo performance and despite of staying on risky score it did get manage to get 3 points without much effort.

With taking account of quality of Istanbulspor, with all respect towards them, Galatasaray did come out as strong favourites and it make it clear to be one from first minutes of the game as it did get early chances with an aim to score an early goal but without achieving that it did reduce tempo possibly due of having high number of tough games and hence to show economical performance. Meanwhile, one of the main positions has been penalty organised by Kerem Akturkoglu and Mauro Icardi which has been played with Akturkoglu passing to Icardi but due of latter not shooting on the target. Stating that Icardi did score a goal few minutes afterwards and not only getting 3 points for his club but likely prevented high number of criticism from media and supporters after game. Galatasaray playing ecomomical afterwards it needs to be mentioned has been risky game however as Istanbulspor did get some chances but didnt convert it.

Istanbulspor also taking account its calibre didnt necessary provide poor performance as it did show some good defensive game for most amount of the game and did create some chances but team does have serious of an attacker which could convert chances into goal unfortunately for them.

Galatasaray continous its winning run as it has won 5 games back-to-back and now would be looking forward for Ankaragucu game.

Trabzonspor loses to Hatayspor with conceding 3 goals in last 20 minutes.

Hatayspor has shown an incredible comeback during Super League game agaisnt Trabzonspor as it got back from 2:0 losing to winning game with 3:2 scoreline with finding all goals during last 20 minutes of the goal while Trabzonspor quite rightly recieved lots of criticism.

Trabzonspor it needs to be mentioned did fail to get high tempo performance for 90 minutes even when it did get ahead of game with 2:0 scoreline as it did also happen that Hatayspor also didnt provide very effective game during most amount of the time and it did make things easier. Most important factor for Trabzonspor has been to reduce its defensive organising game in last 20 minutes which to some extend did come out for detirmation which Hatayspor players showed without doubt and also wrong substitutes which Nenad Bjelica has shown and hence didnt provide rightfully game which team needed to show while winning with 2:0 scoreline and hence Bjelica wrong decisions did play a huge rule with this loss to Hatayspor.

Such a dramatic loss would have negative impact towards Trabzonspor without doubt and it would be interesting to see how team would respond for next week game.

Besiktas will aim to improve its performance against tough Adana Demirspor.

Besiktas would be aiming to carry positive impact it did get from Kayserispor at the game against Adana Demirspor and would be also aiming to improve its performance level but it would be tough as it would play against one of the strongest side in this league.

Despite of getting win against Kayserispor in last week, it could be stated that Besiktas has been pretty far from strong and dominant performance in that game and it would be playing against Adana Demirspor which as remember did have pretty dramatic game last week and this coul be having into how side would be performing in this game. Adana Demirspor does have goalkeeper issue as this game would has been postponed of 3rd week due of Besiktas playing at Conference League qualifying game and 2 goalkeepers which would normally replace both red-carded and injured goalkeepers are not legitimate to play.

Besiktas would be aiming to carry on momentum it gained from Kayserispor game but it would be tough game against Adana Demirspor for sure.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 3rd week:

Istanbulspor 0:1 Galatasaray (Game has been postponed due of Champions League play-off round 2nd leg game between Galatasaray-Molde)

Turkish Cup, 1st round:

Edirnespor 1:2 Corluspor

Musspor 4:0 Agri 1970

Catalca 0:1 Tepecik

Balikesirspor 0:1 Burhaniye

Bornova 4:0 Akhisarspor

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 3rd week:

 20:00 Adana Demirspor-Besiktas (Game has been postponed due of both sides playing Conference League 2nd round games)

Turkish Cup, 1st round:

14:00 12 Bingol - Elazig Karakocan

14:00 Bayburt-Eynesil

14:00 Carsambaspor-Tokat

14:00 Erbaaspor - Fatsa Belediyespor

14:00 Kars 36spor-Dogubayazit

14:00 Mardin Buyuksehirspor - Batman Petrolspor

14:00 Pazarspor-Gumushanespor

14:00 Sebat Gencikspor-Kelkit

14:00 Siirt Ozel-Sirnak

14:00 Sivas Belediyespor-Yeni Amasyaspor

14:30 1922 Konyaspor - Talasgucu 

14:30 Anadolu Universitesi- Sincan

14:30 Burdur Mehmet-Tarsus

14:30 Hacattepe 19450 Kirikkale Buyuk Anadolu

14:30 Kumluca-Silifke

15:00 Bigaspor-Bilecik 1969

15:00 Bulvarspor- Karabuk Idmanyurdu

15:00 Bursa-Inegol Kafkas

15:00 Golcukspor -Bartinspor

15:00 Sapanca Genclikspor-Darica Genclerbirligi

15:00 Silivrispor-Ergene Velimese

15:00 Sultanbeyli-Kucukcekme

15:00 Turgutluspor-Aliaga

17:30 Karsiyaka-Bergama Belediyespor

In other news:

- PFDK referalls:

- Pendikspor has been referred for events on field and behaviour of fans.

- Fatih Karagumruk, Hatayspor workers Mehmet Guzel, Ferhat Boz and Cansel Kemiksiz for not following guidelines.

- Rizespor for 6 players getting yellow cards.

- Basaksehirspor Konyaspor for events on field.

- Galatasaray for behaviour of fans.

- Ankaragucu for accepting unallowed fans.

- AdanaDemirspor for 3-players getting red cards

- AdanaDemirspor player Kevin Rodrigues for breaking rules.

-Alanyaspor head coach Omer Erdogan for anti-sportmanship behaviour.

-Fenerbahce for 6 players getting yellow cards, behaviour of fans.

- Fenerbahce andits administrator Selahatin Baki for statements regarding referee.

- TFF CEO Mehmet Buyukeksi has made some statements:

- There would be media campaign to reduce hooliganism at stadiums.

- Super League will have new logo and anthem

- Semi-offside rule will be introduce in 1st January

- Super Cup will take place on 30th December.

- TurkishCup 2nd round draw will be taken place on 29th September.

- Fenerbahce player Dusan Tasic has been selected to Serbian National Team for Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Ankaragucu player Stelios Kitsiou will not play for 3-4 weeks due of injury.

- ShakhtarDonetsk has send complaint to FIFA regarding transfer of Galatasaray player Tete.

- AdanaDemirspor has terminated contract with its player Goran Karacic

- RealMadrid player Arda Guler has become injured for 3-weeks.

- Besiktas player Gedson Fernandes has resumed training sessions after recovering from injury.

- Besiktas has launched Besiktas Token.

- Antalyaspor head coach Nuri Sahin would accept assistant coach role at Turkish National Team if he it would be allowed to stay at his club.

- Samsunspor are interested to appoint Sergen Yalcin and Aykut Kocaman as club's head coach.

What happened in Turkish football today? 25/09/2023

 Hatayspor has shown best comeback performance of this season so far.

Hatayspor has shown an incredible comeback as it was losing 2:0 at home ground after one of the main clubs in Turkey Trabzonspor with 2:0 scoreline, but has found 3 goals after 70th minute while this has been very dissapointing and dramatic loss to Trabzonspor.

It needs to be mentioned that Trabzonspor despite of not having enough tempo of the game, it did look like that it was aiming to get a win as it did provide organising performance but did lack some creativity but it needs to be mentioned that game has been played in between without much effective performance in 1st half. It needs to be stated that Edin Visca goal on 44th minute did change game as we saw totally different game from both sides as to all fairness Trabzonspor did raise its performance also as it did found 2nd goal. But it needs to be mentioned that after conceding goal and especially during last 20 minutes, Trabzonspor did lose control of the game entirely as defensive game has been dissapeared and Hatayspor has provided strong attacking game and every goal has raised that tempo and did find 3 outstanding goals and this result did identify some important issues which needs to be worked on this training session.

As much as Trabzonspor does recieve deserve criticism with performance towards end of the game, it also should be praised possibly even more this fighting spirit which Hatayspor has shown. With finding 3 goals it has provided strong attacking game with finding 3 high-class goals and had shown most memorable comeback performance of this season so far.

Trabzonspor it needs to be stated did come to this game with good form and motivation with impressive last 2 weeks wins including against Besiktas, but it has pretty opposite tonight and once again showed itself to be team with unstable performance.

Fenerbahce continues its winning run as it beats Alanyaspor.

Fenerbahce has got another win during this season this time beating Alanyaspor at tough away game with minumum scoreline of 1:0 as it continuing its 100% winning run this season thanks to goal from Irfan Can Kahveci.

Regardless into condition of Alanyaspor, it needs to be mentioned that an away game against them has been difficult to all clubs in this league including top 4 clubs as they tend to show organised patient defensive game. It needs to be mentioned that even through tempo of the game didnt been rise at the level which Fenerbahce players and fans would be hoping too and also didnt get much chances, it needs to be stated that it has been side which did control game and didnt provide much chances to Alanyaspor as another factor which has been improved at Istanbul giant is strong defence. It has also been without doubt important for Irfan Can Kahveci to find goal and supporters showing strong support towards him after it, as we see both big transformation from him and also from supporters towards him during this season.

Fenerbahce hence continues its unbeatable run during this season and club is currently focussed to carry this impressive run at least until national team break.

Besiktas gets very important win against Kayserispor.

Besiktas did get an important win against Kayserispor both in sense of getting through poor results and performance in last 2 games and also send strong message at race for top spot which it did get bit further away.

Negative aspect which could be stated towards Besiktas however is that prior to conceding goal, it did continue showing an ineffective performance and to some extend needed a goal to be conceded to wake up. Still, to some extend winning in such manner could be also important for them as team was under pressure and this has been reduced with winning against side which didnt lose game prior to this fixture and now it could be focussed to improve its performance especially taking account that it needs to do so against Adana Demirspor as it would be playing against side which tends to show strong positive performance.

Besiktas hence did get a crucial important win but it needs to carry on such manner without doubt so it wouldnt lose more points in early stages of the season.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

Hatayspor 3:2 Trabzonspor

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 3rd week:

20:00 Istanbulspor - Galatasaray(Game has been postponed due of Champions League play-off 2nd leg game between Galatasaray and Molde)

Turkish Cup, 1st round:

14:00 Edirnespor- Corluspor

14:00 Mussaspor - Agri 1970

15:00 Catalca-Tepecik

17:30 Balikesirspor-Burhaniye

17:30 Bornova-Akhisarspor

In other news:

- TFF has announced referees for Super League 3rd week postponed games:

- 26.09, 20:00: Istanbulspor-Galatasaray: Abdulkadir Bitegen

- 27.09, 20:00: Adana Demirspor-Besiktas: Umut Ozturk

- 28.09, 20:00: Fenerbahce-Basaksehirspor: Zorbay Kucuk.

- Euro2024qualifier between Turkey and Latvia venue has been changed from Adana to Konya.

- Besiktas has made sponsorship deal for its stadium with Tupras for 8.5 million euro for 3-years.

- Trabzonspor CEO Ertugrul Dogan has stated that here is no debt left towards players at squad.

- Fenerbahce player Dominik Livakovic has been selected to Croatian National Team squad for Euro 2024 qualifiers

What happened in Turkish football today? 24/09/2023

Fenerbahce continues its 100% winning run with minumum win against Alanyaspor

Fenerbahce continues its 100% winning run during this season as it has won Alanyaspor with minumum scoreline at the difficult away game as it was expected and has regained top spot at the table thanks to goal from Irfan Can Kahveci in the end of the 1st half.

Quality of game in some performances for Fenerbahce could be discussed and criticed but one thing is for certain that Istanbul giant are getting into habit and both tactically are playing all each games for a win. It needs to be mentioned that Fenerbahce did have some issues with getting full control of the game especially in the attack but still has prevented Alanyaspor to create high number of the chances. Still, even through tempo of the game could be criticised Fenerbahce has been side to keep ball on its feet and has shown patient football as did Nordsjaelland and using its quality players did find a winning goal on 43rd minute with good organising game and has also created some other chances to get another goal. It also needs to be stated that rotation which Ismail Kartal went through during game against Nordsjaelland did pay an important positive impact in this game as all attackers did looked to be fresh and willing to create chances.

Alanyaspor as been expected did provide some organising game to prevent Fenerbahce to provide comfortable game and get dominant character but it needs to be stated that Alanyaspor does have some issues in attack as it didnt provide too much danger to Dominik Livakovic for most amount of time.

Fenerbahce hence has managed to get 5 out of 5 in the start of the league for 3rd time in its history and doesnt give any chance that it would lose point anytime soon.

Besiktas did get very crucial win against Kayserispor

Besiktas has got an important win against Kayserispor with 2:1 scoreline as conceded goal on start of the 1st half has been a waking up call as it didnt show very dominant and strong goal but afterwards did show game which has been expected from them.

Besiktas did come out to the game with lots fo being under pressure without doubt, as it didnt get score and performance which has been expected from them against Trabzonspor and Club Brugge, which without dout would have provided lots of pressure and it has been felt in 1st half where Besiktas did show an attacking game but did lack certainty of performance and also tempo and it did look like another game which could end up with some issues for Besiktas. In fact, start of the 2nd half hasnt been ideal at  all as Carlos Mane did score a goal from corner where Besiktas defenders did forget about him and he did score simple goal. Stating that, as game has shown that conceded goal has been positive impact to team as it became waking up call for them as they did find 2 goals within 20 minutes after conceding with Aboubakar and Oxlade-Chamberlain,with latter scoring his 1st goal and after that Besiktas did get control of game and did create some more chances.

Kayserispor in fact didnt come out to the game in better form than Besiktas but didnt show it at the field as it tends to be for mediocre side it did focus into defence and counter-attacks. It did score good organising goal from corner but apart that it didnt provide much pressure to Besiktas.

Besiktas hence did win an important game and this result has reduced possibility of having some internal stress and pressure as such win would have positive impact to confidence and motivation, but team still needs to improve a lot.

Galatasaray does have quality advantage compare to almost all teams in league

Galatasaray continues its undefeated run at the Super League as it has beaten this Basaksehirspor with 2:1 scoreline but sign of tiredness has been visible at the team from Copenhagen as it lacked high tempo.

It needs to be mentioned that Galatasaray has an important quality factor as an advantage at Super League, in similar way as does Fenerbahce which helps team to win team withngout actually showing high dominance at the game. Basaksehirspor to some extend has been suitable opponent as it didnt have very good start to the season and even through with new coach Cagdas Atan it did start getting results, it is not showing performance which would been expected from them so Galatasaray with adding quality of the squad did use that advantage. It was important without doubt for Hakim Ziyech to find an opening as he would be expected to be key player in this season at attack among Mauro Icardi. Only negative for Galatasaray has been without doubt been injury of Kazimcan Karatas who is recovery expected to take 2-3 weeks.

Galatasaray possibly are not showing high performance but it does get points which helps team to continue early race for leadership with Fenerbahce.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

Ankaragucu 1:1 Konyaspor 

Besiktas 2:1 Kayserispor

Alanyaspor 0:1 Fenerbahce

Kasimpasa 2:1 Adana Demirspor

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

20:00 Hatayspor- Trabzonspor

In other news:

- Fenerbahce administrator Selahattin Baki: Getting 12 out of 12 wins in start of season is very impressive achievement. We are focussing to talk about football while other administrators focus to referees in first 5 weeks. Saying that, it took time to count our goal.

- Besiktas has announced that due of change of weather and some areas at the field were observed some grass sicknesses. This has affected for football field to be negatively affected.

- Galatasaray has announced that recovery of Kazimcan Karatas has begun.

- Konyaspor player Sokol Cikalleshi will not play for 2-3 weeks due of injury

- Besiktas player Gedson Fernandes will not be able to play for 2-3 weeks due of injury.

- Fenerbahce player Omar Fayed who has been loaned to Novi Pazar still didnt travel to Serbia due of visa issues.

- Fenerbahce has made extension deal with its player Miguel Crespo for 3-years with 2 million euro+500,000 euro bonuses salary and 15 million euro release clause.

- Trabzonspor head coach Nenad Bjelica has stated that team player Nicolas Pepe will resume training sessions next week.

What happened in Turkish footballl today? 23/09/2023

 

Galatasaray has shown strong reaction with win against Basaksehirspor

Galatasaray has got an important win against Basaksehirspor which is being one of the most difficult away games for all big 4 clubs as it has shown pretty strong organised game despite of lacking high tempo performance on the field.

With having difficult game on mid-week against Copenhagen which also for them has been ended with suprising result it has been interesting how would side respond both mentally and physically, and it would be needed to say that it has done in right manner. It could be argued for sure that Galatasaray didnt provide fully dominating game and small signs of tiredness has been shown but this didnt prevent them to show strong and controllable game and in some moments Istanbul giant did get control of the game. Meanwhile, it was important for Hakim Ziyech to find his first goal of the season where he did show his class and this would provide morale and confidence for upcoming weeks as it has high aims for this season. Only issue which could be mentioned that at conceded goal there was loss of concentration including from Fernando Muslera as Galatasaray ex-player Leo Dubois has got goal but after that Galatasaray managed to stay focussed and prevented Basaksehirspor to get draw.

Following poor start for Basaksehirspor, it did get some good results in recent weeks and did come to game with high morale and to some extend it has shown that performance and did provide some issues to Galatasaray but in overall it had problem at matching level which Galatasaray showed during game.

Galatasaray hence did get an important win against one of toughest opponent at this league especially after such dramatic and difficult week it had.

Fenerbahce expected to carry on 100% record with game against Alanyaspor.

Fenerbahce would be aiming to continue its 100% winning run in this season with Super League away game against Alanyaspor and its been favourite to carry on this run even through opponent will provide some problematic moments to the team.

It needs to be stated that Fenerbahce has won 11 out of 11 games both domestically and Europe with some of the games achieving that in confident manner and in some by playing not very well but showing character and detirmanation. It needs to be stated that Fenerbahce is hence would be coming out to the game with high morale and Alanyaspor on other hand is not being side at great form as it performing in all fairness below its capacity so Fenerbahce would be seeing as advantage. It also needs to be reminded that Fenerbahce would be coming out with key attackers who would be rested as they didnt play against Nordsjaelland which would raise their effectiveness at attack.

Hence, with taking all factors Fenerbahce would be coming out as strong favourite but Alanyaspor has potentiality to provide problematic minutes to Istanbul giant.

Besiktas will aim to stop poor results as it would play against in-form Kayserispor.

Super League game against Kayserispor for Besiktas would be very important as among big 4 clubs, it is providing worst performance and are getting worser on the field as last league game it lost to Trabzonspor with 3:0 scoreline and didnt provide very good game against Club Brugge despite of draw.

It also needs to be stated that even through of quality factor, Kayserispor would be coming out in good form against Besiktas and also believing that it could be getting at least draw against Istanbul side. Kayserispor it needs to be mentioned is showing one of its best performance compare to previous season and tries to show positive game where it did achieve to get also positive results. Besiktas meanwhile could be see this game as turning point and aim to get at least win at home ground to regain confidence and motivation which without doubt it urgently needs due of poor results in recent games.

 It is actually difficult to state who is being favourite for this game as Besiktas are being in poor form and Kayserispor are at great form but Besiktas does have quality factor.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

Pendikspor 1:1 Fatih Karagumruk

Rizespor 1:1 Sivasspor

Antalyaspor 2:0 Samsunspor

Basaksehirspor 1:2 Galatasaray

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

17:00 Ankaragucu - Konyaspor

17:00 Besiktas-Kayserispor

20:00 Alanyaspor - Fenerbahce

20:00 Kasimpasa-Adana Demirspor

In other news:

- Trabzonspor administrators has paid delayed salaries to its players.

- BorussiaDortmund, Borussia Monchenblach and Atletico Madrid scouts were viewing Besiktas player Gedson Fernandes during Conference League game against Club Brugge.

What happened in Turkish football today? 22/09/2023

Besiktas get an important 1 point thanks to Gunok and Tosun

Besiktas has been extremely lucky and also needs to be thankful to team goalkeeper Mert Gunok for numerous saves against Club Brugge as an away game against group favourites has ended with 1:1 scoreline.

It needs to be mentioned that Besiktas did show its worst performance during whole season as it failed to get control of the ball and has let Club Brugge to get control of the ball and has shown dominating game with having attacks back-to-back. It needs to be mentioned here that Besiktas decline of performance has been visible against Trabzonspor where it did lose with 3:0 scoreline and hence Besiktas currently is being at decline with performance. It needs to be mentioned that goal which did come from Vanaken wasnt a mistake of Mert Gunok and without doubt has been of careless game by defenders which did failed during whole game. It also needs to be feeling also lucky for having player like Cenk Tosun who is always hungry for goal as he did bring an important 1 point from very poor game.

When looking both in table and performance wise Besiktas did gain 1 point and this game should be wake up call for the team in upcoming weeks without doubt.

Fenerbahce got deserved win against Nordsjaelland

Fenerbahce continues its winning run as it has won all 11 official games during this season and this taking account that it did come out with big rotation in squad especially in attack against Nordsjaelland.

As Fenerbahce head coach Ismail Kartal states himself he doesnt like to refer to this as rotation as he believes that every player is being on level of starting 11 and looking into quality of squad this has been case without doubt. It needs to be stated that game did go for most amount of time with control of Fenerbahce and showing patient game and finding goals actually in best moments of the game with only missing goal due of losing concentration in one point as score has been 3:0. All of the players which did play due of rotation especially Miguel Crespo did show that there in good level right now even through it was clear he is still not in level of his glory days but this game and goal has been important for confidence.

Fenerbahce did get an important win at start of the Conference League and provides lots of optimism for group stage of this tournament.

Galatasaray return to league with tough game against Basaksehirspor

Galatasaray would be returning to Super League with pretty tough game against Basaksehirspor and even through it is being favourite for sure it would play against team which does have new coach and look for turning point.

It needs to be stated that in previous years, Galatasaray tends to struggle after Champions League games and playing against side which tends to be problematic to all top 4 clubs it could be having some issues with showing top level performance possibly. Still, Galatasaray squad without doubt is having much more experienced and quality players to all respect to Basaksehirspor which could turn around game in positive manner as it was case to some extend against Copenhagen. Basaksehirspor still would be expecting to see Galatasaray bit traumatized and also playing against big club to turn around its season could provide some motivation for them.

Galatasaray is coming out as favourite but it would need to fight for it as Basaksehirspor is expected to provide good organised resistance towards them.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

Gaziantep 2:0 Istanbulspor

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

17:00 Pendikspor-Fatih Karagumruk

17:00 Rizespor-Sivasspor

20:00 Antalyaspor - Samsunspor

20:00 Basaksehirspor-Galatasaray

In other news:

- TFF arbitration committee has reduced fine given by PFDK to Ahmet Nur Cebi from 400,000 TL to 200,000 TL.

= - Galatasaray player Tete goal against Copenhagen during Champions League 1st week game has been selected by UEFA as goal of the week. 

- - Turkish National Educational Ministry and Sports and Youth Ministry signs protocol with TFF.

- Fenerbahce player Luan Peres will have an operation due of ongoing injury.

- RealMadrid player Arda Guler has resumed training sessions after recovering from injury.

- - TFF are interested to appoint Danuelle Russo as assistant coach, Massimo Crivellero as game analysis and Pierpaolo Polino as athletic trainer at Turkish National Team.

- Besiktas player Salih Ucan has requested 40 million TL salary for extension contract while Cenk Tosun requested 42 million TL.

What happened in Turkish football today? 21/09/2023

Besiktas has been lucky to get 1 point from group favourites 

Besiktas didnt start Conference League in the way which it has wished for as it has drawn against group favourites with 1:1 scoreline with goal coming from Cenk Tosun on 88th minute but this goal could help side to end group at top especially taking account that this is being 1 point from away fixture.

As been noted, there isnt much doubt that Besiktas would be  getting to knockout stages but there are questions if it would be doing to do so at the top of the group as it also includes strong Club Brugge side. It needs to be mentioned that coming to the game it has been pretty competitive game for 90 minutes as both sides did show why they are favourites in the group. However, it needs to be mentioned that Besiktas not very strong performance has been visible also during this game as Club Brugge has been much more creative and attacking performance with Besiktas goalkeeper Mert Gunok multiple saves did keep side at the game until Vanaken did found a goal which Belgian side has been showing. Still, it was important for Besiktas to stay foccused to the game as it continued showing an attacking game and found a goal at the end of the game which did come from great Vincent Aboubakar assist.

Club Brugge did show therefore that it is being on better condition currently compare to Besiktas as it been side which did create high number of the chances and has been side which did lose 2 points as with its performance it did show that it is favourite in the group.

Besiktas meanwhile continues showing its poor performance as it let to some extend to control and dominate to Club Brugge with main reason why possibly side didnt lose game has been to Mert Gunok overall performance. 

Fenerbahce has got confident win with good patient game against Nordsjaelland

Fenerbahce has started its Conference League campaign in pretty confident win against Nordsjaelland as it was expected prior to game and has provided most important confident attacking game despite of having big rotations on starting 11.

It needs to be mentioned that Fenerbahce has shown control of the game for 90 minutes and even if there were some brief moments when Nordsjaelland did show some good performances and attacking game, it did look like Fenerbahce has kept control of the game and even when goal went to 3:1 scoreline, it didnt provide much stress for sure to supporters. It needs to be also stated that even through did find a goal in 90 minutes he did provide crucial 2 assists including to Miguel Crespo with strong header. Therefore, Fenerbahce did show right tactical game with being patient, using its chances and preventing Nordsjaelland as it didnt create many chances despite of conceding 1 goal which did come with slight lose of concentration. Still, it was important to get such win and regain confidence and motivation of alternative attacking players.

Nordsjaelland on they part did aim to provide an attacking game with having a young players and did show signs that this squad could develop into strong players but wasnt able to respond to good quality and experienced players. Still, Nordsjaelland did give signs that it could focus for top 2 spots in this group.

Fenerbahce therefore did start its group stage of Conference League in confident and good performance and continues its 100% record in all of the competitions and seems to be side to be beaten right now.

It took too long for Galatasaray to get focus back after conceding goals.

Galatasaray did gain 1 point against Copenhagen at home ground in an important opening game at the Champions League as results of two games against each other could decide which side would see Europe after New Year.

Galatasaray performance during game against Copenhagen could be divided into 3 parts: prior to conceded goal on 35th minute, following that goal until Sacha Boey goal on 86th minute. It needs to be mentioned that Galatasaray did dominate until 35th minute with being side to create chances and providing dangerous attacks but didnt provide specifically fast tempo and could have provided more pressure to Copenhagen goal. What was surprising from Galatasaray is how much conceded goals from Copenhagen did affect into morale and confidence to the team as side couldnt provide right reaction and interestingly so didnt supporters. Red card without doubt did help in comeback for Galatasaray even through it took 20 minutes to Boey to score. With that goal Galatasaray start pushing and did found goal with Tete.

In overall, it could be stated that when looking into game Galatasaray did gain point but when look into table and difference between sides in sense of quality it did lose 2 points for sure.

Results:

UEFA Conference League, Group H, 1st week:

Fenerbahce 3:1 Nordsjaelland

Ludogorets 4:0 Spartak Trnava

UEFA Conference League, Group D, 1st week:

Club Brugge 1:1 Besiktas

Lugano 0:0 Bodo/Glimt

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 6th week:

20:00 Gaziantep - Istanbulspor

In other news:

- PFDK decisions:

- Trabzonspor, Galatasaray has recieved 112,000 TL fine for events on field.

- Gaziantep has received 224,000 TL fine and blockage of stands for behaviour of fans and events on field.

- TurkishNationalTeam assistant coach Kenan Kocak has resigned from his post.

- VincenzoMontella has been appointed as Turkish National Team head coach for 3-years

- TurkishNationalTeam has dropped from 41st spot to 42nd at FIFA World Ranking for September.

- Galatasaray will send complaint to UEFA for Copenhagen player Kamil Gabara post at social media.

- Galatasaray player Tete goal against Copenhagen during Champions League 1st week game has been nominated for goal of the week by UEFA.

- Galatasaray player Tete has been selected to team of the week at Champions League 1st week games.

In other news:

What happened in Turkish football today? 20/09/2023

Galatasaray did lose potentially crucial 2 points against Copenhagen

Galatasaray has got 2:2 scoreline against Copenhagen with finding 2-goals in the end of the game but it needs to be mentioned that Istanbul giant did lose crucial 2 points in such group but it needs to be mentioned that 1 point won in the last minute could become key at the end of group stage.

Galatasaray did have good start of the game with providing pressure to Copenhagen side with controlling ball and looking for chances but it needs to be mentioned that even during this moment, Galatasaray didnt get enough tempo to create more dangerous chances and providing pressure both to Copenhagen defence and goalkeeper. After conceding 2 goals on 35th from Elyassomi and 58th minute goal conceded from Goncalves has broken both Galatasaray players and also supporters which without doubt has been dissapointing view for the side which is competing at Champions League especially against side which is weaker on paper. It also needs to be mentioned that such comeback between 86th-88th minute should be praised and has shown strong character and will be motivational boost but it needs to be on mind by Okan Buruk that it did come around after 20 minutes when opponent player has been send off.

Copenhagen it needs to be mentioned has started game in pretty shock possibly due of pressue from opponent and also from supporters but after afterwards it did use its chances very strongly and has managed to control game until red card. Copenhagen did get 1 point at away game during potential fight for 3rd spit and hence this result would make Danish side more happy.

Galatasaray did have good start of the game and has showed pretty good game until 35th minute and also last 10 minutes of the game but it needs to identify what went wrong between those times.

Besiktas would play one of most important games in the group.

Besiktas are going to start its Conference League campaign against its main rivals in the group Club Brugge against who it would be very likely fight for top spot in the group stage and hence would start with one of the main games in this stage.

To all respect of every side in this group, it could be clearly stated that even without providing its best performance Besiktas should not be having serious issues to get to the knockout stages but when taking account that getting 1st spot does give advantage of not playing at 2nd round of competition, it needs to be mentioned that it would be playing 2 important games against Club Brugge. Last time both sides has met has been after historical win against Liverpool at Europa League, where with over confidence has taken Club Brugge too lightly and it needs to be mentioned that Brugge is much stronger compare to that one and to some extend Besiktas are not as strong as there were back then. Chances to beat Club Brugge are still pretty high but only if it shows best performance of the season and takes seriously.

It would be expected to be good and well-fought game between both sides as games between them likely to decide leader of the group.

Fenerbahce are strong favourites against Nordsjaelland

As been noted on our blog entry after draw of Conference League, Fenerbahce did have much more easier group compare to Besiktas as it come from 1st pot and its being strong favourite against side which is being 2nd strongest at group.

Taking that Nordsjaelland is being side which is showing some improvement in recent seasons and is being side which could provide issues to Copenhagen at Danish league so it would be important for Fenerbahce still to get game but with being side which didnt lose single game and hence being morally and physically at great position, it also have psychological advantage over physical, moral and home ground factors. Fenerbahce also provided promising view from Twente qualifying stages especially in 1st leg and hence is expected to get a win without issues. Only warning which is always given to Turkish clubs is to take this game seriosly and respect opponent.

Fenerbahce shouldnt have much issues with Nordsjaelland and in group in general but it still needs to be fully concentrated.

Results:

UEFA Champions League, Group A, 1st week:

Galatasaray 2:2 Copenhagen

Bayern Munich 3:2 Manchester United

Schedule:

UEFA Conference League, Group H, 1st week:

19:45 Fenerbahce-Nordjaelland

19:45 Ludogorets-Spartak Trnava

UEFA Conference League, Group D, 1st week:

22:00 Club Brugge-Besiktas

22:00 Lugano-Bodo/Glimt

In other news:

- TFF has terminated contract with Turkish National Team head coach Stefan Kuntz.

- VincenzoMontella has arrived to Istanbul for one-on-one appointment negotiations with Turkish National Team.

- Galatasaray player Tete has been selected as player of the match for Champions League game against Copenhagen.

- Fenerbahce has made extension deal with its player Miguel Crespo.

- Besiktas has introduced Besiktas Token with association of Paribu. Pre-sales will start from 26th September.

- Galatasaray considers to raise salary of its head coach Okan Buruk to 30 million TL.

- Fenerbahce are interested to transfer River Plate player Nino De La Cruz.

What happened in Turkish football today? 19/09/2023

Galatasaray would be coming out as favourites thanks to strong support from home fans.

Galatasaray would be returning to Champions League with a game against Copenhagen at the opening week of Group A as it would be an important game for potential 3rd spot when looking into other opponents.

As been noted, it is important to be fair for ourselves as it needs to be mentioned that Galatasaray has found itself at the tough group with Bayern Munich and Manchester United and hence it would be reasonable to expect that its realistic aim would be to ending at 3rd spot and hence this game against Copenhagen is being very important. Also, it needs to be mentioned that this is being an opening week and its always important to have good start of the competition. Coming back to game it needs to be mentioned that Galatasaray would be coming as favourite not only due of quality factor but more crucial in this game due of strong supporting push at home ground. Still as always it needs to be difficult as Copenhagen been side which has been improving in recent years and has potential to surprise its opponents.

Galatasaray would be coming out as favourites but it wont be an easy task as it tends to be at Champions League and hence team would need to show its best performance for 90 minutes for sure.

Konyaspor signs Gokhan Tore for 1+1 years.

Konyaspor has signed officially Gokhan Tore who as it is known is coming to last years of his footballing career and player for sure would be aiming to provide that he is still able to provide top level game after some unwanted injuries in recent years.

Signing Gokhan Tore for 1+1 years is also being an important transfer for team in sense of providing an important push for experience to the team as it is unclear if he would be able to recieve lots of playing time even if player would like to do. Still, Konyaspor will be signing an important player who also has most amount of experience in the current squad at the Super League and would to help significantly both in the field but as been noted more likely outside of field also.

Hence, this would be an important signing for Konyaspor and Tore will becoming one of the leading players in this season to help side to end at top half of the standings.

Arda Guler would start training session on 25th September.

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has given a good news regarding of injury of Arda Guler stating that player would be returning on training session on 25th September as he did show pretty fast recovery from minuscule injury.

As it is known, Arda Guler did get pretty serious injury at the training session during pre-season training camp after joining team making it among most discussed transfers in this summer. After awaiting to be coming out on field on his 1st game is getting closer as Ancelotti states that player is being recovered and would start training session next week. Meanwhile, this also shows that team has been careful not to let him train with main squad to early and did provide patience for him to be entirely ready.

This without doubt has been good news and long-awaited first game for Real Madrid would be getting closer after this for him.

Schedule:

UEFA Champions League, Group A, 1st leg:

19:45 Galatasaray-Copenhagen

22:00 Bayern Munich - Manchester United

In other news:

- PFDK referalls:

- Kayserispor, Fenerbahce has been referred for not following guidelines.

- Gaziantep has been referred for behaviour of fans and events on field.

- Galatasaray has been referred for events on field.

- Trabzonspor has been referred for events on field and not following guidelines.

- UEFA has announced referees for Conference League 1st week games:

- 19:45: Fenerbahce-Nordsjaelland: Georgo Bogar

- 22:00: Club Brugge-Besiktas: Aleksei Kulbakov

- InterMilan player Hakan Calhanoglu has become injured.

- VincenzoMontella has stated that he cant give details about if there is offer from TFF for Turkish National Team position but he would be honoured if he would be considered.

- RizaCalimbay has announced that he didnt recieve an offer for Turkish National Team head coach role.

- TFF considers to appoint Antalyaspor head coach Nuri Sahin as Turkish National Team assistant coach. Sahin has declined an offer as he wants to stay with current club.

What happened in Turkish football today? 18/09/2023

Trabzonspor got confident win against Besiktas.

Trabzonspor without doubt has shown one of its best performances during this season as it got confident win against Besiktas at home ground with providing strong and rightfully tactical game against Istanbul giants.

It could be argued that Besiktas did provide poor performance and this case is being true, but it needs to be mentioned that collective and organising performance both in defence and attack by Trabzonspor did also affect into performance of Besiktas and hence Trabzonspor did show that it wanted to win game much more and did get deserved win in deserved manner. It was also important for Paul Onuachu to score his opening goal in his 1st game and with goal coming from header as this is being reason why he was transferred. As it would be remembered Trabzonspor did have poor start of the season but this game did show that are being in good condition and could be fighting for title for rest of the season if it continues and improves with its performance in upcoming weeks.

Therefore, Trabzonspor did studied Besiktas very well and did aim to show effective game which did pay off with such calm and confident win for them.

Besiktas has shown worst performance in recent years against Trabzonspor.

Besiktas on other hand did show pretty ineffective performance not being able to get into game and didnt provide much pressure to Trabzonspor into the goal with 1st shot on goal coming as late as 82nd minute.

Usually, Besiktas tended to show an improvement after national team breaks but this time we did see huge decline of performance of what arleady has been in all fairness not very good performance during this season. Without doubt an effective and strong performance from Trabzonspor also has stopped Besiktas to get much into game and it did lose concentration and belief as it conceded goal. This has been so far not only worst performance during this season but in recent seasons and this performance does provide some worrying image prior to Club Brugge game and also generally so it does look like Senol Gunes needs to raise performance level of the team at short notice time.

Besiktas hence is being in serious decline with its performance and it needs to sort out this issues if it doesnt want to lose points in both Europe and domestically for sure.

Fenerbahce still got win apart of poor game against Antalyaspor.

Fenerbahce continues its 100% winning run in all official games as it won against Antalyaspor even through it needs to be stated that team provided poorest performance in whole season especially during 1st half.

It needs to be stated that Fenerbahce did look surprisingly poor during 1st half with making lots of passing mistakes and generally failing to control game which led for Antalyaspor to control and dominate game and Antalyaspor finding an opening goal. Without doubt Edin Dzeko goal in the end of the 1st half and changing room talks in half-time did play role, as Fenerbahce did look much more effective in 2nd half and did manage to provide pressure and with detirmantion and quality of the side did get a winner with Szymanski at 80th minute. It wasnt specifically very good performance from Fenerbahce for 90 minutes but withotu doubt it has been important for them to win with poor performance.

Fenerbahce did get an important game and kept their confidence high for opening game at Conference League against Nordsjaelland.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 5th week:

- TFF has stated that Stefan Kuntz is currently still head coach of Turkish National Team and there would be meeting with him on 20th September.

- UEFA has announced that referee for Champions League game between Kobenhaven and Galatasaray will be Georgi Kabakov.

- Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler will referee Champions League game between Benfica and Salzburg.

- TFF has stopped appointment negotiations with Joachim Low for Turkish National Team head coach position due of high salary requests.

- Galatasaray has signed sponsorship deal with Baskent Insaat.

- Fenerbahce player Cengiz Under has become injured.

- Galatasaray has signed professional contract with its academy player Beknaz Almazbekov until end of the season.

- Pendikspor has announced that an opening of its new stadium Pendik Stadium has been moved from Super League 6th week game against Fatih Karagumruk to 8th week game against Sivasspor due of ongoing working with condition of the field.

- Basaksehirspor has terminated contract with its player Sener Ozbayrak

What happened in Turkish football today? 17/09/2023

Trabzonspor got confident win against Besiktas as it wanted game much more

Trabzonspor got a confident win against Besiktas at the home ground at highly anticipated game and among winning with 3:0 scoreline Trabzonspor has been showing strong organising attacking game which could be not said for Besiktas.

Trabzonspor did have mixture of performance during this season but previous week win against Kasimpasa with 5:1 scoreline has provided some good signs and during 90 minutes Trabzonspor has shown that this result is not being surprising and that it is capable of showing positive attacking game. Stating that, it needs to be noted that Trabzonspor did provide slighly defensive focussed game on the start of the game as Besiktas did have some good chances but as opening goal came from Onuachu, being his 1st goal in 1st league game on 29th minute has affected into confidence of Trabzonspor and morale of opponent as Black Sea side has started showing much more dominating game which led for 2nd goal by Bakasetas after 12 minutes. Trabzonspor has been seen to be side which been looking to be looking for goals which has been especially present to see and did provide good defensive game as Besiktas has been able to provide shot on goal at 87th minute of the game.

Besiktas did have actually good start of the game and did send message that it came out for win as it provided significant amount of pressure to Trabzonspor goal but has been negatively affected from conceded goal as it did lose control of the game and has led them to mainly defend which it didnt show also very good stable performance as it led for Trabzonspor to create some more chances. It needs to be mentioned that Besiktas has been criticised before hand for not able to provide top level game for 90 minutes, and when we did see opponent which aimed to show top level game from start to an end has led Besiktas to have issues to get into game and provide too much pressure apart of first minutes of the game.

Trabzonspor did show that it has been entirely focussed to this in its training sessions as both tactically and physically it has been in great condition, aspect which could not be said for Besiktas. 

Fenerbahce got tough win against Antalyaspor.

Fenerbahce has managed to get well-fought win against Antalyaspor with 3:2 scoreline at the game which ended up being much more difficult than it would been expecting as it didnt have good start to the game with providing ineffective performance and conceded goal but as game developed it raised performance.

It needs to be mentioned that Fenerbahce didnt have very good start of the game as Antalyaspor did provide strong pressure and an attacking game which would been expected from Fenerbahce as it didnt control ball well and lacked passes. With such performance it did look like Fenerbahce would concede goal and it did, however towards end of the 1st half Fenerbahce did raise tempo and did find a goal thanks to Edin Dzeko. With entering to changing room with an equaliser without doubt did have positive impact to team as it started in much more organised and high tempo on 2nd half and did find to get to 2:1. Even through Antalyaspor has continued providing pressure, Fenerbahce still looked to be side on control and Szymanski did bring a winning goal, continuing to score on regular base and showing how important he is to this team.

It needs to be mentioned that Antalyaspor which has been showing pretty poor start of the season has providied without doubt its best performance during this season especially during 1st half with providing brave and attacking game which led for 2 goals coming from Buksa. Despite of losing game, this performance would certainly provide motivational boost for upcoming games.

Fenerbahce meanwhile continues to be only side to win all games in the Super League and regains its top spot and without doubt would be looking forward for Nordjaelland game at Conference League.

Galatasaray got confident win but it has some serious defensive issues.

Galatasaray has got pretty confident win against Samsunspor at the home ground with 4:2 scoreline but it needs to be mentioned that it did have little scare in the start of the 2nd half which could cost them 2 points.

It needs to be mentioned that even through Galatasaray did provide very strong performance during 1st half with great performance of Kerem Akturkoglu who did score 2 goals and provide one assist to Abdulkerim Bardakci, it is seriously failing to control game after getting ahead, an area which is absent from last season. It needs to be mentioned that when looking into field it does have serious performance gap at defence and attack as attacking there is no issue as it has players who can convert chances especially Mauro Icardi and Hakim Ziyech but defensively it did allow lots of chances of opponent, as Samsunspor did score 2 goals during 2nd half and could have equalised and also had other chances but did lack last touches. It does look this defensive issue would need to be solved as those defensive mistakes will not be easily forgiven at Champions League.

Galatasaray did get confident win in the end of the day and gained motivation and confidence before Copenhagen game at Champions League but it needs to improve its defensive performance.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 5th week:

Fenerbahce 3:2 Antalyaspor

Istanbulspor 0:2 Basaksehirspor

Alanyaspor 3:3 Kasimpasa

Trabzonspor 3:0 Besiktas

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 5th week:

20:00 Fatih Karagumruk - Hatayspor

20:00 Sivasspor-Ankaragucu 

In other news:

- TFF has terminated contract with Turkish National Team head coach Stefan Kuntz.

- TFF are interested to appoint Vincenzo Montella as Turkish National Team head coach.

-  Galatasaray will have administrative meeting on 7th October, if majority of attended members is not gathered meeting will move to 14th October.

What happened in Turkish football today? 16/09/2023

Galatasaray returns to league with confident win against Samsunspor

Title holders Galatasaray has returned to Super League campaign with pretty confident win against Samsunspor with 4:2 scoreline but it could be mentioned that it did have little scare in the start of the game but Hakim Ziyech shot from far away which accidently hit got final result.

Coming to the 1st half it could be stated that Galatasaray player Kerem Akturkoglu has taking leading role with finding 2 goals within 30 minutes as Istanbul as been expected has started with strong and attacking game. With getting back-to-back chances, Galatasaray has provided confident dominant game and ending 2nd half with 3:0 scoreline it was foreseen that it has completed its task and could provide game with lower tempo. But Samsunspor has provided pretty confident and strong attacking game with making scoreline to 3:2 and has been looking to get an equaliser but class of Hakim Ziyech and Mauro Icardi has ended that high aim at the game. Galatasaray didnt necesarily provide high tempo and it hard to state that dominated game but apart of start of the 2nd half loss of concentration, it has been side which controlled game and now could be focus to Champions League game against Copenhagen.

Coming to Samsunspor it should be stated that as was expected it did provide some positive game and did find some very good chances among scoring 2 goals and did show its show potential, but quality factor did play crucial role in the final result.

Galatasaray has got an important and pretty confident win at the return of the league which would provide some confidence and motivation for upcoming games both domestically and in Europe.

Both Besiktas and Trabzonspor would surely play for win at old rivarly game.

Besiktas and Trabzonspor would be resuming Super League with an important and tough game against each other as both sides does have long-term arch rivarly and even through this are still being an early stages of the season, both sides need to get win to stay close to top spot.

Besiktas did start season without a loss so far both domestically and also during Conference League qualifying stages but it didnt yet provide necessarily dominant game on the field failing to show high tempo and controllable game for 90 minutes but it needs to be mentioned that quality players especially at attack did help side to get results for almost all the time. Trabzonspor meanwhile needs to be stated did have mix level performance as it didnt start game at good form with getting difficult win against Antalyaspor and then losing next 2 games but did enter to national team break with confident win against Kasimpasa with 5:1 scoreline and hence did provide some positive view for upcoming season. Looking on paper Besiktas does look to be favourite but Trabzonspor does tend to provide different performance against top level sides as it gets extra motivation and it would be expected to do so in this game too.

It would be reasonable hence to expect for this game to be on high level with both sides showing fast tempo game and lots of chances. 

Fenerbahce would aim to carrying undefeated run against Antalyaspor.

Fenerbahce would be resumed Super League season as it would be aiming to carry on its undefeated run against Antalyaspor at home ground as its opponents didnt have good start of the season but did make some good transfers during this national team break.

It needs to be mentioned that without doubt so far best start of the season has been seen from Fenerbahce and it would be focussed into carry on providing high level performance and number of players such as Tadic, Dzeko and Szymanski would be aiming to carry on its top level performance. Another significance of this game is that it would be expected to be first game for Livakovic at the goal as there quite naturally high expectations from one of the best goalkeepers of World Cup 2024. Taking account of not very good form of Antalyaspor as been noted, Fenerbahce would be expected to provide dominant game and also would aim to get win without giving too much effort prior to Conference League and hence with help of supporters would be seeking to find an early goal. Antalyaspor would be expected to focus into defensive but as been Fenerbahce does have creative players to pass this defence.

Fenerbahce are seen to be favourites when looking at form and confidence of both sides but Antalyaspor might see this game as restart of season for them in other hand.

Results:

Turkish Super League, 5th week:

Kayserispor 2:0 Gaziantep

Konyaspor 1:2 Rizespor

Adana Demirspor 3:0 Pendikspor

Galatasaray 4:2 Samsunspor

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 5th week:

17:00 Fenerbahce - Antalyaspor

17:00 Istanbulspor - Basaksehirspor

20:00 Alanyaspor-Kasimpasa

20:00 Trabzonspor-Fenerbahce

In other news:

- Besiktas player Vincent Aboubakar has attended today's training session after returning to Istanbul.

- Besiktas has announced that club's total debt is 240 million euro.

- Alanyaspor has signed Sergio Cordova for 4-years.

- Antalyaspor has extended contract with its player Veysel Sari until 2025 and Bunyamin Balci until 2027.

- Antalyaspor has extended contract with its players Ataberk Dadakdeniz and Bahadir Ozturk until 2026.

- Konyaspor player Bruno Paz has become injured during national team break.

What happened in Turkish football today? 15/09/2023

Galatasaray would restart season with resistant Samsunspor.

Turkish Super League would be resuming with Super League game between Samsunspor and Galatasaray as title holders would be coming as expected to be strong favourite but it needs to be mentioned that Black Sea side can be  tough opponent.

It also needs to be mentioned that games before and after Champions League tend to be going pretty difficult for clubs in Super League and it would be interesting to see how game in midweek would affect to Galatasaray mentality. It would be highly expected that at the game which Istanbul giant as been noted seen to be clear favourite would be expecting to raise tempo as soon as game starts and looking for an early goals but Samsunspor is capable of providing some good defence. Samsunspor naturally would be focussed to defensive game but would be looking for counter-attacks.

Galatasaray are expected to win game without doubt but it is not expected to be an easy win as some would be awaiting.

Kayserispor has lifted transfer ban on last day and made number of good transfers.

Kayserispor has managed to lift transfer ban on the deadline of summer transfer window and hence has as would been expected day with high number of transfers with signing 6 players which would strength its squad.

It needs to be stated that Kayserispor has been looking into lifting this transfer ban which did come from unpaying salaries to its ex-players during whole summer and hence eventually managed to lift it after long time in the morning of last day of the summer transfer window and had managed to transfer strong 6 players which would provide quality factor which has been lacking to some extend during  start of the season. Therefore, it could be stated without doubt that club did have good period of transfer deadline taking account conditions which it has happeend.

With most players also being used to Super League there would not be much issue of new players to get adapted to the league.

Mario Ballotelli returns to Adana Demirspor.

Adana Demirspor has managed to bring back Mario Balotelli after player has terminated contract with Sion as he did provide some good performance in 2 seasons not only in team but whole league.

With signing being for 1+1 years, Ballotelli is expected to provide similar performance as he does have some good connection with Adana Demirspor and even through there were some issues on his stay, it wasnt actually as scandalous or at least wasnt reported too much in Turkish media. It also known that Ballotelli did have good connection with Adana Demirspor CEO Murat Sancak and this for sure also has played a positive role for smoothness of this transfer deal.

Only thing which Adana Demirspor fans would be dissapointed is factor that he didnt join before Conference League game against Club Brugge but apart that fans would be very satisfied.

Schedule:

Turkish Super League, 5th week:

17:00 Kayserispor -Gaziantep

17:00 Konyaspor - Rizespor

20:00 Adana Demirspor-Pendikspor

20:00 Galatasaray-Samsunspor

In other news:

- Samsunspor has signed shirt sponsorship deal with Old Spice and Head and Shoulders.

- Trabzonspor head coach Nenad Bjelica has stated that NicolasPepe does have small injury and its not clear if he will be able to play against Super League game against Besiktas.

- Kayserispor has signed Hasan Ali Kaldirim.

- Pendikspor has signed Olympiakos player Ahmet Hassan.

- Trabzonspor has signed Alanyaspor player Umut Gunes for 4+1 years with 2.3 million euro transfer fee which would be paid in 3 installments and also includes 20% share from next transfer.

- AdanaDemirspor has loaned PSG player Edouart Michal for 1-year.

- Basaksehirspor has loaned Nottingham Forest player Emmanuel Dennis.

- Alanyaspor signs Pione Sisto.

- Kayserispor signs Podbeskidzie Bielsko player Yigit Emre Celik.

- Kayserispor loans Besiktas player Kartal Kayra Yilmaz for 1-year.

- Eyupspor signs Basaksehirspor player Sener Ozbayrakli.

- Sivasspor signs Fode Koita for 1-year.

- AdanaDemirspor has signed Luzern player Florent Shehu.

- Samsunspor has signed Kasimpasa player Michael Tirpan.

- Konyaspor has signed Ankaragucu player Gokhan Tore.

- Galatasaray has signed Bayern Munich player Eyup Aydin.

- FatihKaragumruk has signed Kasimpasa player Valentin Eysseric.

- Kasimpasa has signed Burnley player Samuel Bastien.

- Antalyaspor has signed Hapoel Beer Sheva player Sagiv Jehezkel.

- Hatayspor has terminated contract with its player Musa Cagiran.

- Basaksehirspor has loaned Galatasaray player Leo Dubois.

- Umraniyespor has loaned Fenerbahce player Emre Demir.

- AdanaDemirspor has transferred Pape Cisse for 3-years.

- Kayserispor has transferred Aylton Boa Morte.

- Kayserispor has transferred Kasimpasa player Stephane Bahoke.