Beşiktaş - Club Brugge: The Club Facts

On Thursday, Blue-Black takes on Beşiktaş in Istanbul for the fifth matchday of the group stage in the UEFA Conference League. Find out all Club Facts about the match here!

The match

While Club qualified for the next round of the UEFA Conference League on matchday 4, Beşiktaş failed to secure European wintering. "The Black Eagles" went down 1-2 at home against FK Bodø/Glimt. The Turks can still keep up with the Norwegians in the rankings, but they were the lesser in the duels between them.

Club is not yet sure of the group win. The group winner advances directly to the ^1/8th final and has home-field advantage. The runner-up from the group must first play an intermediate round, in which it will face a UEFA Europa League dropout. If Club does better than Bodø/Glimt against FC Lugano, it is sure of the group win.

Thursday will see Club take on a Turkish opponent for the ^11th time, 5 of which have been on Turkish soil. These matches ended in 1 win, 2 defeats and 2 draws for FCB. Beşiktaş is also not an unknown opponent for Blauw-Zwart. In the group stage of the UEFA Cup in 2006, Club lost 2-1 to the team and in the ^1/8th final of the UEFA Europa League in 2015, Blue-Black went on to win 1-3 at Beşiktaş Park. Tom De Sutter and two goals from Boli Bolingoli ensured the victory then.

On the opening day of this group stage, Club played a 1-1 draw at home against Beşiktaş. Hans Vanaken provided the goal, but in the closing stages the Turks came back to equalize after a goal by Cenk Tosun.

After four match days, Club is still unbeaten in the group stage of the Conference League. Once before, Club managed to finish the European pool without defeat: in 2014 in a UEL group with Torino FC, HJK Helsinki and FC Copenhagen. Besides Club, only 7 other teams have not yet lost in the group stage of the Conference League this year.

Club Brugge's top shooter in the group stage is Hans Vanaken with 4 goals. Philip Zinckernagel is the assist king with 2 decisive passes. In Istanbul, Deila cannot call on Hans Vanaken though. Against Lugano he received his third yellow card and is thus suspended for Thursday's game.

The opponent

Although Beşiktaş has already been eliminated from the UEFA Conference League after four playing days, in its own league it is third in the ranking and has 25 points after 13 playing days. The top shooter in the Süper Lig is Vincent Aboubakar, assist king is Salih Uçan.

Coach Şenol Güneş was fired early in the season due to poor results. Burak Yilmaz, who was an active player last season, took over. But that did not prove to be a success. On Nov. 10, Rıza Çalımbay was appointed as his successor. Under Çalımbay, Beşiktaş was able to grab 6 out of 6: a 1-0 win against İstanbul Başakşehir and a 1-2 away win at Samsunspor.

In the European group stage, Beşiktaş has not been able to win once this season. One draw and three defeats ensure that the team dangles at the bottom with just one point.

Milestones

• Éder Balanta may play his 120th official match for Club.
• For Denis Odoi, it could be the 70th match at Blue-Black. Raphael Onyedika may be making his 70th appearance for Club.
• Ferran Jutglà may play his 60th match at Club. Maxim De Cuyper may be in action for the 30th time at FCB.
• Jorne Spileers and Hugo Vetlesen can play their 10th European match for Club Brugge.
  
• Andreas Skov Olsen can play the 20th European match of his career. He played 6 times for FC Nordsjaelland (Den) and 13 times for Blauw-Zwart.

The referee

Slovenian David Šmajc was appointed ref for this game and is assisted by assistant refs David Gabrovec and Tomaž Černe and fourth official Dejan Balažič. Alen Borošak will assume the role of VAR and will be assisted by Dragoslav Perič.

Thursday will be Club's ninth European match led by a Slovenian ref. For Šmajc, it will be the first time he will lead a Belgian club's match in a European context.