Beşiktaş host group stage debutants Asteras
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Article summary
Asteras Tripolis FC, who have yet to lose a home game or win away in Europe, face a Turkish side for the first time as Beşiktaş JK play host to the Greek newcomers in Group C.
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Beşiktaş JK will hope that past meetings between Turkish and Greek clubs augur well as they play host to newcomers Asteras Tripolis FC in their UEFA Europa League Group C opener.
Form guide
• This is Besiktaş's first game against Greek opponents and Asteras's maiden encounter with a Turkish side. Beşiktaş were drawn to face Olympiacos FC in the 1958/59 European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round, but the Greek outfit withdrew for political reasons.
• Turkish teams have had the better of the 15 UEFA competition meetings between clubs from these nations, recording seven wins to the Greek sides' four. Turkish clubs are unbeaten in eight home games against Greek counterparts (W5 D3).
• Beşiktaş are unbeaten in their last three European home games (W2 D1); Asteras have yet to record a win in six UEFA away fixtures, though that run includes three draws.
Trivia and links
• The most experienced European campaigner in the Asteras squad by some distance, Romanian defender Dorin Goian has played in Turkey with his national team, featuring in a 1-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss in 2012.
• This is Beşiktaş's sixth group stage campaign in this competition; they failed to make it through three UEFA Cup group stages but have progressed on both attempts since the advent of the UEFA Europa League.
• Group stage debutants, Asteras have yet to lose a home game in Europe. This is their seventh European game this season, making this comfortably the longest of their three continental campaigns.
The coaches
• Beşiktaş coach since June 2013, Slaven Bilić earned a bronze medal as a defender with Croatia at the 1998 World Cup finals, and went on to lead his team to UEFA EURO 2008 and UEFA EURO 2012 as a coach. A rock music fan with a law degree, he was in charge at FC Lokomotiv Moskva before moving to Turkey.
• Asteras put their faith in coach Staikos Vergetis in 2013, with the 38-year-old renowned as a communicator – not least since he is fluent in several languages and has worked for the club as an interpreter, as well as a youth coach, match analyst and assistant coach. Born in Tripoli, he was denied his dream of a playing career by a serious knee injury.
