Athletic seek Turkish delight

Twenty seasons ago, Athletic Club Bilbao and Besiktas JK met in the first round of the 1985/86 UEFA Cup with Athletic winning 5-1 on aggregate.

Salinas treble
After Gökçen Hüsamettin had given the visitors the lead, Julio Salinas scored a hat-trick and Manuel Sarabia added another as Bilbao triumphed 4-1 at San Mamés, and Sarabia then scored the only goal of the return leg.

Recent experience
Besiktas JK, who are playing their first group game, have won two of 12 previous games in six ties against Spanish clubs in UEFA club competitions, with three draws, and seven defeats and a goals difference of 12-24. The fixtures date back to 1958/59 when Besiktas played the Champions Clubs’ Cup winners Real Madrid CF and lost 3-1 on aggregate. Besiktas have met Spanish clubs in three of the last four seasons starting with the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League group games with FC Barcelona. Ahmet Dursan scored twice and Pascal Nouma was also on target as Besiktas won their home game 3-0, but they collapsed to a 5-0 defeat in the return at the Camp Nou. In the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, Besiktas beat CD Alavés when Antonio Karmona’s own goal helped Besiktas to a 1-1 draw at Vitoria, then Ilhan Mansiz’s early goal at home won the tie. Last season Besiktas met eventual UEFA Cup winners Valencia CF in the third round, and, despite Daniel Pancu’s double at Valencia, the home side won the first leg 3-2, and then went to Istanbul for a 2-0 second leg success.

Second Turkish challenge
Bilbao now meet their second Turkish club in their last three UEFA Cup matches. In the first round, Bilbao eliminated Trabzonspor, who had lost in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. Trabzonspor won the first leg in Turkey 3-2 after a Javi González own goal had opened the way to a 3-0 lead, only for the Bilbao fightback to begin with goals from Carlos Gurpegui (72 minutes) and Joseba Arriaga (79 minutes). Bilbao completed victory with a 2-0 home win thanks to an early goal from Santiago Ezquerro, and a second on the hour from Fransisco Yeste.

Opening day success
And after goals from Gurpegui and Asier del Horno had accounted for Parma FC in the opening group game, Bilbao now return to Turkey.