Overview
Last season, Besiktas experienced a disappointing European journey when they stopped early in the Europa League qualifiers against Shakhtar Donetsk. After that, they continued to miss the Conference League group stage due to a defeat to Lausanne-Sport.
This result also closed the term of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Besiktas. Sergen Yalcin returned to lead the team for the second time, before saying goodbye at the end of the 2025-2026 season after helping Besiktas finish fourth in the domestic league and win the right to participate in the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
This season, the task of reviving Besiktas is assigned to Italiano. Under the leadership of this strategist, the team nicknamed Black Eagles has won 9 out of 11 official matches, only suffering 2 defeats. Besiktas successively surpassed Midtjylland, Hradec Kralove and Kauno Zalgiris to win a place in the Europa League group stage.
Besiktas also maintains impressive form in the European arena in the domestic league. They are currently ranked second in the Super Lig with 12 points after 5 matches, of which they only lost 1 match. Besiktas once impressed when defeating Fenerbahce 2-1 away, before continuing to win 3-0 against Erzurumspor last weekend.
This result helps Besiktas increase their home winning streak to 6 consecutive matches. Notably, they kept a clean sheet in 5 of those matches. With Istanbul as a support and stable form, the home team has reason to aim for a favorable start in the Europa League.
Besiktas is also looking for the first time to participate in the Europa League knockout round since the 2016-2017 season. After consecutive disappointments in European cups last season, this goal becomes even more meaningful for the Turkish team.
Meanwhile, Marseille returned to the Europa League after finishing last season in fifth place in Ligue 1. The French team spent most of their time playing in the Champions League, but their form declined in the late season amid constant changes on the coaching bench.
Roberto De Zerbi left Marseille in February, then Jacques Abardonado temporarily took over before Habib Beye led the team for the rest of the season. In the summer, Bruno Genesio was appointed with the task of bringing Marseille back to a stable orbit.
Genesio had an incredibly impressive debut when Marseille defeated Strasbourg 4-0. However, that victory quickly became out of place when this team successively lost to Monaco, Paris FC and Rennes.
The 0-1 defeat to Rennes last weekend caused Marseille to drop to 13th place in Ligue 1. After the first rounds, they are only 1 point ahead of the relegation play-off group. Therefore, the away match against Besiktas will be an opportunity for Marseille to temporarily put aside difficulties in the domestic league and look for a more positive performance in the European arena.
However, head-to-head history does not bring much advantage to the away team. Besiktas and Marseille have only met twice before, both in the Champions League group stage in the 2007-2008 season. Notably, both matches witnessed the home team win.
Expected lineup:
Nubel, Murillo, Agbadou, Topcu, Ouattara, Ozcan, Cerny, Olaitan, Kokcu, Trossard, Vlahovic.
De Lange, Egan-Riley, Aguerd, Emerson, Weah, Hojbjerg, Abdelli, Gomes, Harit, Gouiri, Paixao.
The match between Besiktas and Marseille takes place at 2:00 AM on September 18 (Vietnam time).
