Fenerbahce very close to the title

Weather  you like it or not, Fenerbahce is the best team so far....

 With  winning games in away matches and winning games  in the last seconds of the matches..

 Fenerbahce surpassed  their opponents Besiktas and Galatasaray ....

Five weeks to go in the Turkish Super League, they  pretty much have the title in the bag !


First year coach with Fenerbahce , Ersun Yanal and his team, really played like a team this season.

Ersun Yanal's biggest weapon was  Dirk Kuyt ...

With his hardworkship ,  Kuyt was workhorse for Fenerbahce......


Defending champions Galatasaray   was no show in away matches this season.

With Fenerbahce on first place with 63 points, Besiktas on second place with 54 and Galatasaray
on third place with 53 points !

Fenerbahce  on top with clear 12 points  ....

Ersun Yanal's  man will face Besiktas in Ataturk Olympic Stadium on this coming Sunday ..

If Galatasaray  lose points against Kasimpasa this weekend ..

A draw for Fenerbahce against Besiktas, will make them Champions of Turkey.....

But, Besiktas is also desperate for points.

This season , second place finisher is very important !

Who ever  finishes second ,goes directly to Champions League next season....

Because of UEFA's ban on Fenerbahce.......

That is why, it is still unknown  who will finish in second place ...

Also, for  fourth place, there are at least four or five teams will  fight  down to wire to capture the
Fourth place in the Turkish Super League......

Fourth place team earns Europa League ticket.......

Lastly, bottom of the  league is getting hotter !

We know Kayserispor pretty much  done ......

The other two teams , the last five weeks will decide , who will bite the dust !

Five weeks to go, this could well go down to the wire too ...

In short, we know  who will be the champions ....

What we don't know is  who will finish second and fourth place !

And  what two teams will relegate.......


All the matches this weekend will be hard fought matches.....

Perhaps, Besiktas vs Fenerbahce match  will be "the match of the week !"

Week 30, will take a start on Friday with one match.....

Erciyes will host Trabzon ,who is fourth place ....

This is Erciyes's , do or die match......

On Saturday, there are two matches.....

Gaziantep vs Genclerbirligi and Akhisar vs Kayseri......

Two real good matches !


On Sunday ,along with Besiktas vs Fenerbahce derby match, there is Rize vs Konya match ...

Both should be very good matches......

On  Monday , there is also two matches....

Antalya vs Sivas and Karabuk vs Eskisehir.....


As you could see,  team who are desperate for points are playing each other this weekend !

And these is how will be, last four weeks, after this weekend.....

It  is do or die time....

Or should say, put  up or shut up time.....

Enjoy your Turkish Soccer weekend.

Galatasaray First Finalist in the Turkish Cup !

What a match in Bursa ,,,,,,,,,,

In first fifteen minutes ,Bursa shocked  ,Galatasaray team !

They scored two goals by  Brazilian forward Fernandao ....

In the very end of the first half , Galatasaray's workhorse the man who turn the electricity for Galatasaray

Dutch Wesley Sneijder  scored a goal and that fired up whole Galatasaray team....

After recouping at the half....

In the second half ,  Selcuk Inan , Burak Yilmaz (2)  and Melo scored unanswered four goals!

This time, Galatasaray shocked the Bursa fans and Bursa team in Bursa ....

Call it " what a come back " 

Call it " Clutch win "


Galatasaray really came hard in the second half and showed that  they wanted to play in the 

Turkish Cup Final ....


On Thursday,  Antalya vs Eskisehir  match will decide the other finalist...

Watch Galatasaray 1- Fenerbahce 0

Sources: Yahoo Sports ,EuroSport and LIG TV https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/video/watch-galatasaray-beat-fierce-rivals-122321923.html

Crunch Time and Derby Time in the Turkish Super Lig !

Last weekend ,while Fenerbahce won on the road,  Besiktas and Galatasaray lost points and  the gap on top  opened up, once again !

By all means, title chase is not over but it is very difficult for Galatasaray and Besiktas....

As we go into the week 28,  Fenerbahce is on top with 63 points with that suspended match in Trabzon!

There are 7 more weeks to play soccer in the Turkish Super Lig yet....

With three point system, mathematically,it is not over yet !

 Sunday's match  in Galatasaray nest, will  be huge match between Galatasaray and Fenerbahce ..

A win for Fenerbahce or a draw will be good but  it will tarnish Galatasaray's hopes for the title!

On the other hand, a win for Galatasaray,  will make the title race very interesting....

Fenerbahce still has to play Besiktas who is also, with 50 points and trying to win the championship !

Drogba should be ready to go against Fenerbahce on Sunday.....

Who ever has the control in the midfield will win the match on Sunday .

Galatasaray has not win a match in their last five matches !

Ever Since exiting the Champions League , Galatasaray and Mancini , are in trouble, in Turkey ...

Even though , if Fenerbahce wins the the tittle, beauce of the UEFA ban , Fenerbahce could not go to Champions League, therefore , who ever finishes second place at the end of the season will earn  to go to Champions League directly !

That is why, finishing second place, is very important this season.

Looking at last seven weeks in the Turkish Super league ...

It will be crunch time for all the teams !

Top teams are playing against the teams who are desperate for points ....

 There's only 10 point  gap between 7th place  and 16th place  !

Bottom two Kayseri teams ,Erciyes and Kayserispor are  with 26, and 25 points !

If, Kayseri and Erciyesspor keeps winning  ,things will be very interesting !

That is why mid level teams are feeling the heat from the bottom ...

So, it is crunch time in the Turkish Super League ...

Winning is a must for every team...

WEEK 28....

April 4 (Friday )

Gaziantepspor vs Kasimpasa at 20:00

April 5 (Saturday )

Akhisar Belediyespor vs Eskisehirspor at 13:30

Medical Park Antalyaspor vs Torku Konyaspor at 16:00

Besiktas vs Kayserispor at 19:00

Caykur Rizespor vs Kardemir Karabukspor at 19:00

April 6 (Sunday )

Kayseri Erciyesspor vs Elazigspor at 13:30

Bursaspor vs Sivasspor at 16:00

Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce at 19:00

April 7 (Monday )

Trabzonspor vs Genclerbirligi at 20:00

Turkish Super Lig :Week 27, Preview .. Crunch Time !

Eight weeks to go, we pretty much know who will finish n top in the Turkish Super League after last weekend !

The real question is who will finish second  and who will bite the dust at the end of the season !

That is the big question......

Galatasaray competing in three different competitions ,showed it's overload !

After ,actually not showing up and choking  against Chelsea in London ,

They lost to last place team at home  and in the Turkish Cup match, after going ahead 2-0 , they draw with Bursa 2-2 at home  .

So, tired and distracted Galatasaray is   in trouble!

The Turkish media's distraction doesn't help it either...

Fenerbahce looks like  wont have any challenge from Galatasaray and Besiktas for the first place....

After winning in Gaziantep, Fener pretty much seal the championship....

Week 27 matches , are very important matches for all the teams in the league...

Because, between fourth place Trabzon(38 )and 16th place Elazig(27) , there is only 11 points difference !

So, in the last eight weeks who ever does not win games, could be in trouble ...

WE are in crunch weeks in the Turkish Super League....

March 28, Friday

Kasimpasa vs Kayseri Erciyesspor at 20:00

Kardemir Karabukspor vs Besiktas at 20:00

March 29, Saturday

Sivasspor vs Gaziantepspor at 13:30

Elazigspor vs Trabzonspor at 16:00

Akhisar Belediyespor vs Caykur Rizespor at 19:00

Torku Konyaspor vs Galatasaray at 19:00

March 31, Monday 

Eskisehirspor vs Genclerbirligi at 20:00

Fenerbahce vs Bursaspor at 20:00

TACTICAL REVIEW: CHELSEA 2-0 GALATASARAY

Photo : Getty Images Sport

When Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho clash, it is same old same old. Mourinho almost always finds a way to get ahead of his Italian rival.

In the first leg, Mourinho clearly won the tactical battle of the first half by ensuring midfield dominance and Mancini tweaked his team to even things up. In this game, Mancini retained the tactics that tipped the scales in the last game only to find out that he needed to play catch up again.

The Chelsea boss would have loved to include the cup-tied Nemanja Matic as a holding midfielder but he had to turn to Frank Lampard to partner Ramires. Mourinho knew that it would limit Chelsea’s dominance in the middle of the park, but it also added Lampard’s assured passing to quickly spread the ball to wide areas, especially to Eden Hazard on the left.

While the Portuguese manager didn’t change the roles of the back seven, he had Hazard and William running in wider areas than usual to exploit spaces that Galatasaray left. Oscar frequently pushed up to partner Samuel Eto’o by making runs into the channels.

In the last game Mancini, initially played an open team, but only gained control after changing to a diamond midfield. He came into this game with the same diamond midfield: Felipe Melo had to sit in front of the back four, Wesley Sneijder was on the left, Selçuk İnan on the right and Yekta Kurtuluş slightly forward. Didier Drogba and Burak Yılmaz played up front.

The whole plan was centred on dominating the ball and floating balls to Drogba because the 36-year-old Ivorian cannot roam around looking for spaces the way the more mobile Yilmaz can. Therefore, for Galatasaray to get the best out of Drogba, they had to get balls into the box more often where the Ivorian’s upper body strength and power could influence the game.

As the game went on, the crowded Galatasaray midfield couldn't get the majority of the ball as planned; Ramires covered too much ground, a fresh Lampard also worked hard and Willian drifted inside to help out, so the ball possession was roughly even.

On the other hand, the incredible work rate of Lampard, Willian and Ramirez neutralised the input of five of Galatasaray players, including Emmanuel Eboue. As the former Arsenal man kept pushing forward to help his midfielders, Hazard found a lot of space to run in behind and cause problems. Sometimes Melo moved across to try and help out but Hazard was just too good for the visitors to contain.

This game’s two first-half goals forced Mancini to remain offensive as he had to chase the game. Drogba couldn’t affect the game as he became increasingly isolated. He tried to exploit Cezar Azpilicueta’s aerial weakness but the full-back minimised this threat by remaining cautious.

Mourinho’s slight changes were boosted by Etoo’s early goal; even though Mancini could see that Eboue needed to drop back and concentrate on picking up Hazard, he couldn't instruct him to do that because he needed numbers in offensive positions. It is never ideal to always play catch up and the first half goals complicated things for Mancini.

Source : by  KEITH SATUKU -Off the post blogger 

Do or Die Match for Galatasaray!

Galatasaray  never won in England  against , British teams !

Could this be first and Galatasaray  make the history along with  Drogba ...

Who is facing his former team for the first time in  Stamford Bridge  !

Why not....

They don't need to win  with a 2-2 draw they could make the history in  London,tonight ..


Drogba, Sneijder , Selcuk Inan, Burak Yilmaz and keeper Muslera are the clutch players


Galatasaray has to play  flawless as a team ....

With Galatasaray fans support  in  London , they could make history tonight ....

Like, Mancini said, It won't be easy  !

Chelsea vs Galatasaray ,match will be broadcast  live on Fox Sport 1,

In the United States at 3.45 PM (ET) New York time...

The World will be watching this ,match...

Let's hope Galatasaray will make that history...

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