Turkish dormant giants Beşiktaş will look to steady their spiraling season and secure their first win of the campaign when they face Irish hopefuls St. Patrick’s Athletic on Thursday in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League third qualifying round.
Kickoff is set for 9:45 p.m. local time at Tallaght Stadium in the Irish capital, with Slovenian referee David Smajc in charge.
After crashing out of the Europa League with a 6-2 aggregate drubbing by Shakhtar Donetsk, Beşiktaş now finds itself fighting for continental survival.
Head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is sitting on a hot seat and a fifth straight match without a win could throw his tenure into early doubt.
For Solskjaer’s side, the trip to Dublin isn’t just about turning the tide – it’s about keeping the season from slipping into full-blown crisis.
The Black Eagles will take the field without midfielders Mustafa Hekimoğlu and Can Keleş, both nursing injuries.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also out, still sidelined with a ligament issue.
Orkun Kökçü, who missed the Shakhtar second leg due to a minor injury, is back in training and awaits a decision from Solskjaer.
Meanwhile, the squad has seen a mini-exodus.
Portuguese midfielder Gedson Fernandes joined Spartak Moscow, while young forward Semih Kılıçsoy was loaned to Italy’s Cagliari.
Long-forgotten Kazakh utility man Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov also departed for Dynamo Moscow.
Jean Onana, omitted from the Europa League roster, has been added to the Conference League squad in Gedson’s place.
However, Emrecan Uzunhan and Oxlade-Chamberlain were left off the UEFA list entirely.
The Saints, aiming for their first-ever group stage appearance in European competition, have scrapped their way through two rounds.
They brushed aside Lithuanian side Hegelmann with a 3-0 aggregate win, but their mettle was tested in the second round against Estonia’s Nomme Kalju. After a 2-1 second-leg defeat forced extra time, St. Pat’s found a dramatic late goal to squeeze through 3-2 on aggregate.
Their domestic form is patchy – they sit sixth in the Irish Premier Division – but they’re unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions, including a 2-0 league win over Waterford last weekend.
Striker Mason Melia, who has scored in both qualifying rounds, is expected to lead the line again. However, midfielder Romal Palmer remains out with a hamstring injury.
Thursday’s tie marks Beşiktaş’s 255th match in European competition, with a record of 95 wins, 49 draws, and 110 losses. The Black Eagles have scored 340 goals and conceded 390.
They’ll also be stepping into the unknown – it’s their first-ever clash with an Irish side in UEFA competition.
In the Conference League alone, Beşiktaş have played 12 times, winning seven, drawing one, and losing four, with a goal difference of 21-19.
Despite the pedigree, the pressure is real. Beşiktaş fans have not forgotten the team’s historic lows – such as the 8-0 shellacking at the hands of Liverpool in 2007 – or the more recent 5-0 home humiliation against Club Brugge in last year’s Conference League group stage.
Beşiktaş’s best European runs include quarterfinal appearances in the 1986-87 European Cup, 2002-03 UEFA Cup, and 2016-17 Europa League – the last ending in a heartbreaking penalty shootout loss to Lyon.
Oktay Derelioğlu remains the club’s all-time top scorer in European competitions with 14 goals, followed by Vincent Aboubakar and Cenk Tosun with 13 each. Among the current squad, Rafa Silva (3 goals), Milot Rashica, Salih Uçan, and Joao Mario (2 each) lead the charge.
The return leg will be played in Istanbul next week, where Beşiktaş hopes to be in control of their fate. -
