In the Turkish Süper Lig there will be the top game between Istanbul local rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray this weekend. It’s about much more than points.
More top game is not possible. There is no more prestigious duel. It couldn’t be more important. But the time is one in which the focus will not only be on the ball.
On Sunday (December 24th, 2023) the two best teams by far will meet in the Turkish Süper Lig. Fenerbahçe Istanbul welcomes local rivals Galatasaray, the two teams are in third place, well above the competition, with 43 out of 48 possible points after 16 games, with a lead of 14 points. For them, it’s not just about an important success, but also about giving Turkish football more positive headlines again.
Two incidents within eight days
The sporting events in the Süper Lig were recently overshadowed by two scandals. On December 11, Faruk Koca, President of Ankaragücüpunched referee Halil Umut Meler in the cheekbone in the middle of the pitch and was banned for life.
Eight days later, Istanbulspor president Ecmel Faik Sarialioglu was so upset about a referee’s decision that he took his players off the field and caused the game to be abandoned.
Galatasaray and Fenerbahce must now be good role models
Before this second incident, the Turkish Football Association had called for more respectful treatment of referees. “All the players and officials who attack the referees at every opportunity and don’t know where it will end should think about what happened,” TFF President Mehmet Büyükeksi said. The fact that the next scandal occurred shortly afterwards does not reflect well on Turkish football.
And now it’s up to the country’s two biggest clubs to prove otherwise. As important as it is for Fenerbahce and Galatasaray to defeat their rivals, especially given the current table constellation, they are also called upon to show beyond national borders that the referees are not “Free wild” as Tuncay Özdamar, head of the Turkish editorial team at WDR Cosmo and an intensive observer of the Süper Lig, put it.
Galatasaray coach Buruk: “So much chaos”
“I hope that the next time will be better for all of us. Things happen that we don’t want to experience. There is so much chaos. Hopefully, Turkish football will become a topic of conversation on the field again as soon as possible“said Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk.”We have to question how we as humans got into this situation. We shouldn’t just attribute this to football.“
Buruk obviously sees a social problem first and foremost and hopes that the Istanbul derby will only cause a sporting sensation. Because without any further scandals, Turkey is looking forward to its biggest possible football festival in the Süper Lig.
Rivalry, well-known stars, shared task
The “intercontinental derby” – Galatasaray comes from the European part of the city, Fenerbahce from the Asian part – has always been one of the most emotional games in the football world. The camps are enemies and the rivalry is incredibly fierce. This goes so far that Fenerbahce has been fighting for a long time to have its championship titles before the founding of the Süper Lig (1959) counted – because then “Fener” would be the record holder with 29 championships, nine of them before 1959, and not “Gala” (23 championships since its inception).
For Fenerbahce, it is currently about breaking a ten-year-old streak – and a victory in the prestigious duel would be elementary for this. The 2013/14 season was the last time the Blue and Yellows were champions; the dry spell is set to end with the help of international stars who were signed in the summer. The league leaders’ biggest performers are Dominik Livakovic, who was one of the best goalkeepers at the World Cup in Qatar, striker Edin Dzeko and midfielder Fred, who will be missing due to suspension.
But Hakim Ziyech, Dries Mertens and Mauro Icardi, players who are big names in the football circus, have also moved to the big city rivals. And in the top game, which is in the shadow of scandals, they all have more than just the task of winning. They all have to work together to get Turkish football out of the crisis.