Beşiktaş hope for better against Wolfsburg

Beşiktaş JK will be desperate to make it third time lucky when they welcome VfL Wolfsburg to Istanbul on Matchday 4.

• The Turkish champions lost and failed to score on the two previous occasions they faced German visitors but Mustafa Denizli's men must do better this time if they are to revive their fading hopes of progress from Group B. Having drawn 0-0 in Germany on Matchday 3, Beşiktaş have at last got their first point on the board but are still off the pace, with Wolfsburg second on four points – five adrift of section leaders Manchester United FC.

Match background
• Prior to that Matchday 3 draw, Beşiktaş had lost all five of their encounters with Bundesliga sides, including a 2-0 home reverse against FC Bayern München in the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• They previously went down 1-0 against BV Borussia Dortmund in Istanbul in the 1989/90 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, en route to a 3-1 aggregate defeat.

• Beşiktaş have not drawn with any visitors in UEFA club competition since being held 1-1 by FC Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup group stage in December 2005.

• Before their Matchday 1 home loss to Manchester United, Beşiktaş had won eight of their preceding ten European ties at the Inönü Stadium.

• Wolfsburg have never played in Turkey before but their first Group B away assignment brought a narrow defeat at United and they lost only once of four away UEFA Cup matches in 2008/09.

Team ties
• During his second spell as Turkey coach, Denizli oversaw a 1-0 home victory against Germany in a UEFA EURO 2000™ qualifier in October 1998. His Turkey side earned a goalless draw in the return fixture in October 1999.

• In his first spell at the Turkey helm he oversaw a 3-1 victory against East Germany in 1987.

• As coach of Fenerbahçe SK, Denizli suffered 2-1 defeats home and away against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League first group stage.

• His first meeting with German opposition as a coach came on 23 October 1985, when his Galatasaray AŞ side lost 2-0 at KFC Uerdingen 05 en route to a 3-1 aggregate defeat in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round.

• Denizli spent the 1989/90 season coaching TSV Alemannia Aachen.

• As a player with Altay GK, Denizli took on FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the 1977/78 UEFA Cup first round – his team lost 5-1 in East Germany but almost staged an improbable comeback by winning the return 4-1.

• In April 1979 he helped Turkey hold West Germany 0-0 in a home qualifier for the UEFA European Championship.

• Wolfsburg's Karim Ziani was on the winning side against Beşiktaş with Olympique de Marseille in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage, appearing in a 2-0 victory at the Stade Vélodrome in September 2007. Ziani watched from the bench as OM lost the return fixture 2-1.

• Edin Džeko scored in Bosnia-Herzegovina's 2-1 defeat by Turkey in a FIFA World Cup qualifier at Beşiktaş's Inönü Stadium in October 2008. Wolfsburg team-mate Zvjezdan Misimović was also in the visitors' lineup, while Black Eagles pair İbrahim Kaş and Yusuf Şimşek featured for Turkey.

• Džeko scored past Beşiktaş goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber in Bosnia-Herzegovina's 3-2 home success against Turkey in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier in June 2007. İbrahim Üzülmez was also in the beaten Turkey lineup.

• Rüştü was in the Turkey team subsequently beaten 3-2 by Germany in the UEFA EURO 2008™ semi-finals.

• The Beşiktaş squad includes former Bundesliga players Fabian Ernst and Michael Fink, Ernst having served with Hannover 96, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen and FC Schalke 04, while Fink experienced top-flight action with DSC Arminia Bielefeld and Eintracht Frankfurt.

• Beşiktaş defender Matteo Ferrari was in the FC Internazionale Milano side that beat Hertha BSC Berlin 2-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup third round in 2000/01. However, he suffered a 3-1 defeat in Germany with AS Roma in a UEFA Champions League group-stage outing at Leverkusen in 2004/05.

• Slovakian international midfielder Miroslav Karhan played for Beşiktaş in the 2000/01 campaign before joining Wolfsburg the following season, going on to spend six years there. He transferred to current club 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2007.

• The injured Beşiktaş forward Filip Hološko and Wolfsburg's defender Peter Pekarík are team-mates in the Slovakia national team.