Beşiktaş end Turkish title drought

Beşiktaş are relishing a return to the UEFA Champions League group stage after claiming their first Turkish league title since 2008/09.

The Istanbul giants settled matters with a game to go by defeating Osmanlıspor 3-1 on Sunday to maintain their six-point lead over Fenerbahçe. Marcelo got the party started with a pair of first-half goals before Mario Gomez added the third shortly after the restart, taking his Super League total to 26 for the season.

"We've had a fantastic season – we gave it our all," said Gomez. "There were nerves until the end but we made it. I am not proud of just scoring goals, but of the fact that those goals have contributed to us winning the title."

Coach Şenol Güneş, in his first season at the club, added: "We deserved to win the title and we played like champions. Fenerbahçe were a good team, too, but we were better. This was a project started by our president Fikret Orman and I would like to thank former coaches Samet Aybaba and Slaven Bilić, who both added bricks to the wall."

The triumph earned the Black Eagles their first championship crown in seven years and 14th overall. It also guaranteed Beşiktaş a place on the starting grid in next season's UEFA Champions League, with Fenerbahçe set to enter the competition in the third qualifying round.