De Santis Saves The Day For Galatasaray!....

Galatasaray's goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis kicks the ball during their UEFA Cup soccer match at the Chaban Delmas stadium in Bordeaux February 18, 2009.
Photo by REUTERS/


Bordeaux and Galatasaray played to a stalemate in the first leg of their UEFA Cup last-32 clash but it was not for a lack of chances at either end.
Both goalkeepers had to be on top form to keep the scoresheet clear, and it will have been be Gala that came away the happier side.

Bordeaux were quickest out of the blocks with Yoann Gourcuff firing narrowly wide in the sixth minute.
Galatasaray responded as Marouane Chamakh's long-range effort brought the first save out of Morgan de Sanctis.

However, the hosts had the upper hand and Fernando Cavenaghi might have done better from Chamakh's cross but sent his effort over the bar.
Former Lyon striker Milan Baros was back on familiar turf but could not find his range as he sent a shot over the bar from 25 yards in the 14th minute.
He went much closer moments later, but Ulrich Rame made a fine save to turn his shot around the post.

Cassio Lincoln then headed wide for Galatasaray in the 28th minute.
Gourcuff was also off target with a long-range effort in the 35th minute, and that was the end of the chances before the break.

The second half got off to a slow start, with another shot from range from Gourcuff flying wide in the only chance before the hour mark.

The on-loan AC Milan, Galatasaray keeper man then forced De Sanctis into a sharp save from close range before Cavenaghi had a long-range effort blocked by Cassio.
Cassio was then in action at the other end as his close-range effort brought another great save from Rame, who sent it wide for a corner.

Galatasaray were enjoying their best spell of the game, and moments later Shabani Nonda had a shot that Rame could only push into the path of Sabri Sarioglu, but his follow-up effort went over the bar.

Cassio then fired over the bar before play swung back to the other end where Gourcuff saw his shot charged down by Baris Ozbek.

As time ran out, De Sanctis did well to block Fernando Menegazzo's close-range effort as the Galatasaray held on.

FORTIS TURKISH CUP SEMI-FINAL DRAW!.

FENERBAHCE V SIVASSPOR

ANKARASPOR V BESIKTAS
First leg of the matches will be played on March 3rd, Fenerbahce will host league Leader Sivasspor in Istanbul and Besiktas will visit Ankaraspor in the first matches.

Second leg of the Semi-Final matches will play on April 22th. The Final match will be on May 13th, 2009.

AHMET TURGUT

Bordeaux v Galatasaray:Preview

Galatasaray will play 50th UEFA Cup match!..

Bordeaux defender Franck Jurietti knows his team have to earn a cushion from their UEFA Cup last 32 first-leg tie against Galatasaray if they are to go to Istanbul next week with any hope of progressing.

Les Girondins host Galatasaray at the Stade Chaban-Delmas for the first match of what should be an evenly-contested double-header in the tournament's opening knockout round.

Jurietti is fully aware of the hostile reception his team will receive in the second leg a week on Thursday so is urging them to make home advantage count on Wednesday.

"It will definitely be a white-hot atmosphere (in Turkey). We have already experienced that,'' said the full-back.

"So we will give our all to go over there in the best condition possible. We must win at home and not concede any goals.

"But to come up against these sort of teams on the European scene is always beneficial. It allows you to pick up experience.''

Bordeaux will restore Yoann Gourcuff to their line-up, the France playmaker having started on the bench in last weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Grenoble in Ligue 1.

Forward David Bellion is a doubt with a groin injury.

Les Girondins, who dropped into the UEFA Cup after finishing third in their Champions League group, have had a jaded look about them in recent weeks and have slipped down to fifth place in Ligue 1 after picking up only two points from their last three matches.

Galatasaray have also struggled domestically of late - they have claimed just four points from four games since the winter break and have been knocked out of the Turkish Cup by Sivasspor.

They should have winger Harry Kewell back from injury while play maker Lincoln returns from suspension after missing the 1-0 defeat to Antalyaspor at the weekend.

Volkan Yaman (fractured thumb), Tobias Linderoth (groin) and Hakan Balta (thigh) are all doubts for Michael Skibbe's team.

Galatasaray, winners of the competition back in 2000, are playing their 50th UEFA Cup fixture.

TURKISH TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE REVIEW!...

It has been Twenty weeks that Turkey's top Football(soccer) League ,Turkcell Super League has started!...

In these Twenty weeks the leagues top spot change hand pretty much every week or shared by other team!...


There is not one team could open the gap on top with big!......

14 weeks to go, in the Turkcell Super League, this weekend ended in same way!..

League top team who share the top spot Sivasspor and Trabzonspor dropped points. (actually ,they were lucky to get a draw in away matches...)


This weekends, biggest loser Galatasaray and biggest gainer was Fenerbahce!...

We could add Besiktas as a loser too in this weekend!

A win on Sunday against Trabzonspor would it turned around Besiktas team in the league!..

They would it surpass Fenerbahce and Galatasaray in the standings....

But, coach Mustafa Denizli's first half error in the line up cost the win!...


Unstable Besiktas, could not cash in the win at home against Trabzonspor!..

If you want to play for top, you have to win your home matches,,

If you can't win the home matches , how are you going to play for Championship?..

According to Coach Mustafa Denzili, he has a credit until week 26!...

When 26th week comes around this might be to late for Denizli, in my opinion!..

Like, other big two big guns of Istanbul, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce , Besiktas can't really shake them self's and win matches!..

They are off one week and on one week!...........

That's why You have teams like Sivasspor and Trabzonspor on top!....

MONEY CAN'T BUY CHAMPIONSHIPS!...........

Besiktas, Fenerbahce and Galatasaray team are the teams spended the most money in the transfer market this season!...

Big name players....big name coaches , who leads these teams get the most money in Turkey but can't produce big things.....like, ...Championship!...


Putting Trabzon a side for a minute, League's top team Sivasspor's whole team doesn't' even worth as much as Spanish Striker who came to Fenerbahce from Spain Guiza!...

A small Turkish Anatolian city team Sivasspor...

A desire, courage, and team work, brought Sivasspor this level in this League!...


Despite the luck draw in Bursa this weekend, without their star striker Mehmet Yildiz, still on top with 42 points .


A Cinderella team of Turkey, Sivaspor with a small budget, is fighting with big guns of the league!........



Trabzonspor who share the top spot with Sivasspor, is in different shoe than Sivasspor, in my opinion.

Trabzonspor, spend slot of money in the beginning of the season too...

Trabzonspor did something that they have never done before!....

After hiring Ersun Yanal as a new coach, they transferred 26 new players !..

They spend a lot of money too...

The new Trabzonspor under Ersun Yanal playing very attractive very fast soccer...

They became a confident team, in my opinion....


FENERBAHCE MOST LUCKY!................

Just think, when this league started , the only team from Turkey who is in the World Money League list, started the league really bad!...

Then they recouped and win back to back games and moved in the first five after being around 12th place in the league!...........

A win against, Besiktas turned Fenerbahce's luck....

Than this week, when Galatasaray got beat , Fenerbahce slashed Hacettepe with seven goals!

And evened up points with Galatasaray and only,5 points behind the top spot!...



Looking back in the league, twenty weeks , brought Sivaspor and Trabzonspor on top of the Istanbul big three's!....

Could one of the big three from Istanbul catch Sivaspor or Trabzonspor?...


That is the 14 week question!....................

We shall see..............

TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE WEEK 20,RESULTS..

Antalyaspor 1 Galatasaray 0

Eskisehirspor 0 Genclerbirligi 0

Ankaragucu 3 Gaziantepspor 1

Bursaspor 1 Sivasspor 1

Fenerbahce 7 Hacettepe 0

Ankaraspor 1 Istanbul B.S.Bld.Spor 2

Denizlispor 2 Konyaspor 1

Kocaelispor 1 Kayserispor 2

Besiktas 1 Trabzonspor 1


STANDINGS P W D L F A GD Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------

1.SIVASSPOR 20 12 6 2 33 13 20 42

2.TRABZONSPOR 20 12 6 2 29 16 13 42

3.GALATASARAY 20 11 4 5 41 23 18 37

4.FENERBAHCE 20 11 4 5 39 21 18 37

5.BESIKTAS 20 10 6 4 30 19 11 36

6.ANKARASPOR 20 10 3 7 28 18 10 33

7.KAYSERISPOR 20 8 8 4 21 12 9 32

8.GAZIANTEPSPOR 20 8 6 6 28 26 2 30

9.BURSASPOR 20 8 6 6 26 26 0 30

10.ISTANBUL B.S.BLD.SPOR 20 7 4 9 22 30 -8 25

11.ESKISEHIRSPOR 20 5 9 6 28 28 0 24

12.ANTALYASPOR 20 5 7 8 20 26 -6 22

13.GENCLERBIRLIGI 20 5 6 9 24 28 -4 21

14.KONYASPOR 20 5 6 9 19 29 -10 21

15.ANKARAGUCU 20 4 6 10 19 30 -11 18

16.DENIZLISPOR 20 5 3 12 25 37 -12 18

17.KOCAELISPOR 20 3 3 14 24 46 -22 12

18.HACETTEPE SPOR 20 2 5 13 11 39 -28 11

Top goal scorers:

15 goals: Milan Baros (Galatasaray)

11 goals: Mehmet Yildiz (Sivasspor),

10 goals: Youla (Eskisehirspor) and Tabata (Gaziantepspor)

9 goals: Taner Gulleri (Kocaelispor), Gokhan Unal (Trabzonspor) and Alex (Fenerbahce)




AHMET TURGUT

TURKISH TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE RESULTS AND STANDINGS

Results and standings of the Turkcell Super League after Day-20 matches played between February 14 and 15:

Antalyaspor 1 Galatasaray 0

Eskisehirspor 0 Genclerbirligi 0

Ankaragucu 3 Gaziantepspor 1

Bursaspor 1 Sivasspor 1

Fenerbahce 7 Hacettepe 0

Ankaraspor 1 Istanbul B.S.Bld.Spor 2

Denizlispor 2 Konyaspor 1

Kocaelispor 1 Kayserispor 2

Besiktas 1 Trabzonspor 1




STANDINGS P W D L F A GD Pts

---------------------------------------------------------------

1.SIVASSPOR 20 12 6 2 33 13 20 42

2.TRABZONSPOR 20 12 6 2 29 16 13 42

3.GALATASARAY 20 11 4 5 41 23 18 37

4.FENERBAHCE 20 11 4 5 39 21 18 37

5.BESIKTAS 20 10 6 4 30 19 11 36

6.ANKARASPOR 20 10 3 7 28 18 10 33

7.KAYSERISPOR 20 8 8 4 21 12 9 32

8.GAZIANTEPSPOR 20 8 6 6 28 26 2 30

9.BURSASPOR 20 8 6 6 26 26 0 30

10.ISTANBUL B.S.BLD.SPOR 20 7 4 9 22 30 -8 25

11.ESKISEHIRSPOR 20 5 9 6 28 28 0 24

12.ANTALYASPOR 20 5 7 8 20 26 -6 22

13.GENCLERBIRLIGI 20 5 6 9 24 28 -4 21

14.KONYASPOR 20 5 6 9 19 29 -10 21

15.ANKARAGUCU 20 4 6 10 19 30 -11 18

16.DENIZLISPOR 20 5 3 12 25 37 -12 18

17.KOCAELISPOR 20 3 3 14 24 46 -22 12

18.HACETTEPE SPOR 20 2 5 13 11 39 -28 11







Fixtures for Day-21 matches on February 20 and 22:

Hacettepe v Ankaraspor

Sivasspor v Eskisehirspor

Konyaspor v Antalyaspor

Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyespor v Ankaragucu

Genclerbirligi v Fenerbahce

Kayserispor v Bursaspor

Galatasaray v Kocaelispor

Gaziantepspor v Besiktas

Trabzonspor v Denizlispor



Top goal scorers:

15 goals: Milan Baros (Galatasaray)

11 goals: Mehmet Yildiz (Sivasspor),

10 goals: Youla (Eskisehirspor) and Tabata (Gaziantepspor)

9 goals: Taner Gulleri (Kocaelispor), Gokhan Unal (Trabzonspor) and Alex (Fenerbahce)

TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE SATURDAY WRAP..

GALATASARAY WENT DOWN AS FENERBAHCE EVENS THE POINTS WITH SCORING SEVEN GOALS!

Just think, if Fenerbahce had won their match last week ,they would be on top of Galatasaray in the standings today with three points ahead of them!...

But, they made it up today against, leagues worst team Hacettepespor...

They scored seven unanswered goals ....Alex made hat trick and Turkish Striker Semih Senturk scored two goals..

Roberto Carlos and Deived also scored for Fenerbahce..

Make no mistake though......

Fenerbahce will never find a team like Hacettepe anymore !...

Hacettepe, should not be in this league at all!....

It is disgrace and a shame of this league...

Politics and favoritism in this league , keeps teams like Hacettepe, Istanbul Buyuk sehir Belediye and Ankaraspor in this league!..

And, I hated.....and I don't like it!.....


FENERBAHCE smashed seven goals past Hacettepe to climb level on points with Galatasaray, who lost ground on the leaders with a defeat away to Antalyaspor on Saturday.

Hat-trick hero Alex got things started with two goals in the space of five minutes early in the match, and further strikes from Diego Lugano, Semih Senturk and Deivid de Souza made it 5-0 at the break.

Fener were not done, though, and Senturk got his second soon after the re-start before Alex made the match ball his with a 58th-minute strike.


GALATASARAY CRASH!.....

It was a very different story for Galatasaray however as they went down to Ahmet Kuru's 59th-minute goal in Antalya, against Antalyaspor..

Both teams,Fenerbahce and Galatasaray are on 37 points, four behind Sivasspor and Trabzonspor who share the top spot in the Turkish Turkcell Super League..

Elsewhere ON Saturday....

Ankaragucu pulled themselves three points clear of the drop zone with a 3-1 win over Gaziantepspor.

Silvino Joao Jaba and Murat Duruer scored in the final five minutes of the first half and, although Rodrigo Tabata scored a 49th-minute penalty for the visitors, Jaba's second in the 73rd minute locked up the points.

Eskisehirspor and Genclerbirligi shared the points in a goalless score.

COMING UP ON SUNDAY...

SUPER SUNDAY IN THE TURKCELL SUPER LEAGUE...

It will be a show time in Besiktas's Inonu Stadium on Sunday...

League's top team Trabzonspor will face another "up and down" team Besiktas!...

Besiktas with a win here, could capture the third spot and surpass Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.

Actually, Besiktas could do a favor to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce too..

The gap will still be patchable,,,,,

But, Trabzonspor is very good...fast and aggressive team!...

It is going to be a good match! .....

If , Trabzonspor wins this match , Besiktas will pretty much will be out of top spot race.

Because, at the end of the 20th week, Besiktas will have 35 points and the top teams Sivasspor and Trabzonspor will put a though fight for the top spot!.....

On the other hand, Speaking of Sivasspor will be away...

They have a real test against Bursaspor in Bursa....

Bursaspor , will have their 12th man , in the stands to effect out come of this match too!....

Sivasspor, has to win this match if they want to stay on top, just like Trabzonspor!..

Also, on Sunday in the early matches, Ankaraspor will face İstanbul BB in Ankara,
In Denizli, Denizlispor will host Konyaspor, this is a must win match for Denzilispor if they lose this match, they could kiss good- bye this league , in my opinion. I think they made a huge mistake by firing their former coach Umit Kayihan.

Last time, last season when Vestel Manisaspor did that , they went down to the lower division. Manisaspor at the time fired Giray Bulak and Hired a part time coach and part time LIG TV commentator Yilmaz Vural and that was it!,,,, You just can"t do that.. now they are paying for it.....
Denizlispor is looking like this too, in my opinion....

Lastly Kocaelispor will host a strong Kayserispor at home.

So, Enjoy your Turkish Soccer on Sunday!...

AHMET TURGUT

FENERBAHCE IN THE WORLD'S RICHEST CLUBS TOP 20 LIST!

Fenerbahce is the only team from Turkey made it to world's richest top 20 clubs in the world.

Real Madrid is richest football club in the world...

Real Madrid is still the top moneymaking club in world football, beating out European Cup champion Manchester United due to the plunging pound, according to the latest review of the sport’s finances.

Deloitte’s study, which ranks the 20 biggest clubs based on revenue, showed that Madrid generated Euro365.8 million in the 12 months to June 30, 2008.


19th-place Fenerbahce is the first Turkish club to appear since the list was created after the 1996-97 season.



The 20 richest football clubs:
1. Real Madrid, Spain, Euro365.8 million.
2. Manchester United, England, Euro324.8 million.
3. Barcelona, Spain, Euro308.8 million.
4. Bayern Munich, Germany, Euro295.3 million.
5. Chelsea, England, Euro268.9 million.
6. Arsenal, England, Euro264.4 million.
7. Liverpool, England, Euro210.9 million.
8. AC Milan, Italy, Euro209.5 million.
9. AS Roma, Italy, Euro175.4 million.
10. Inter Milan, Italy, Euro172.9 million.
11. Juventus, Italy, Euro167.5 million.
12. Lyon, France, Euro155.7 million.
13. Schalke, Germany, Euro148.4 million.
14. Tottenham, England, Euro145 million.
15. Hamburg, Germany, Euro127.9 million.
16. Marseille, France, Euro126.8 million.
17. Newcastle, England, Euro125.6 million.
18. Stuggart, Germany, Euro111.5 million.
19. Fenerbahce, Turkey, Euro111.3 million.
20. Manchester City, England, Euro104 million.