Beşiktaş And Trabzon Eye Early Ticket To Europa Knockout Stage

Slaven Bilic's Beşiktaş already has one foot in the knockout stage of the second-tier Europa League, but the Black Eagles will actually have an opportunity to make sure they are officially there on Thursday night when they take on Greek side Asteras away.

Elsewhere, Trabzonspor hopes to ease its way through the upper stage with a home win over pointless Metalist Kharkiv in their Group L clash. The Black Sea Storm also has a chance to qualify from the group stage depending on the outcome of the other Group L encounter between Lokeren and Legia Warsaw.

The Eagles earned themselves an advantageous position with two consecutive victories in its most recent games, which followed two draws in the opening clashes of Group C. Bilic's men might reduce the round six match to a simple formality and to a matter of prestige should they last against Asteras and win at least one point in Greece.

The İstanbul club did not have it easy with the Greek outfit in the debut encounter at Atatürk Olympic Stadium, and was held to a 1-1 tie with a last-gasp equalizer. This time the Eagles should be more careful in order to avoid surprises.

Beşiktaş has kept its spirits high before the Asteras match after reclaiming the lead in the domestic league with a two-game winning streak. Bilic's team beat Kasımpaşa, one of the strongest in the Super League, with two goals by striker Demba Ba.

The Senegalese has started off at Beşiktaş on the right foot and continues to impress. He has thus far netted four goals in the group stage encounters of the Europa League while his total scoring reached to 12 goals in 15 games. The star striker will definitely be Bilic's key to success in Athens. He will expect support from Olcay Şahan, Jose Sosa and Gökhan Töre.

First-string goalie Tolga Zengin and Tomas Sivok were not part of the squad that headed to Greece due to their injuries.

Defensive weakness worries the club. Kasımpaşa missed amazing chances to score over the weekend while Asteras, which faces a must-win situation to claim a spot in the knockout stage, may not be as clumsy. A well-rested Pedro Franco, who missed out on domestic league action due to a card offense, will try to stop Asteras scorers along with Ramon Motta.

With its chronic home-stadium trouble -- the team has been stuck at Atatürk Olympic Stadium since the start of the demolition and reconstruction of İnönü Stadium -- Beşiktaş has been showing a better performance in away games. The Turkish Super League outfit scored a total of five goals away as opposed to three at home in the Europa League.

Trabzonspor takes on Metalist

Meanwhile, an ever-changing Trabzonspor faces Metalist Kharkiv at Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium on Thursday night, the Ukrainian side without a single point or any hope of proceeding from the group stage, as another wind of change is blowing in the club.

It will be the first Europa match for new coach Ersun Yanal, who replaced Vahid Halilhodzic to end the short-lived second era of the Bosnian. Yanal has started his spell at Trabzon with a bang with the Black Sea side stunning archrivals Galatasaray 3-0 in their derby clash over the weekend.

The Super League outfit has not struggled greatly in the Europa League, even during turbulent times under coach Halilhodzic. Yanal's men are ranked second in Group L, trailing the already qualified leader Legia Warsaw.

Lokeren is following closely in third with three points. A draw might be enough to take Trabzonspor to an upper stage in the competition, with one match to spare in the event that Legia Warsaw, which already secured a berth in the knockout stage, defeats Lokeren.

ESRA MADEN (Cihan/Today's Zaman)