Istanbul Basaksehir hosts FC Copenhagen in the first leg of the Europa League 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Thursday, March 12th at Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium (Istanbul)
Basaksehir created a small miracle in the last round of the Europa League. Having lost in Portugal to local Sporting with a 1-3 score, the Turks won back the necessary handicap in a home game and transferred it to extra time. And in the last minute of this time, Basaksehir scratched out a victory on aggregate. The significant problems in the defense of the Turkish team are noteworthy. It conceded goals in 16 of its 20 last matches. Six out of eight games in the Europa League ended with goals conceded. As for the local championship, Istanbul conceded 24 goals in 25 rounds. It’s too much for a championship leader.
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Taking Celtic on visitors in the first leg, Copenhagen seemed to complicate its life with the result of the game. The teams tied with a 1-1 score. But in the return match, the Danes pretty convincingly beat the Scots at their stadium (1-3). In eight matches of the Europa League, the Lions failed to hit the opponents' goal only once (playing against Malmo in Sweden). But they scored in all other games of the tournament. They also score a lot in the local championship. 41 goals are in the asset after 22 matches.
Istanbul is considered the favorite of the match. This is probably right since the team is in good shape and leads in the championship of Turkey. Finally, it will play at home, where it is capable of feats, as in the confrontation with Sporting, for example. However, the Turks are unlikely to keep a clean sheet. As we see, they concede at least one goal in almost every match. Four regular defenders of Istanbul are not boys anymore, but rather veterans. Junior is 30 years old, Clichy - 32, Epuryanu - 33, Skrtel - 35. Of course, they have enormous experience but already lack speed and endurance. And Copenhagen, having Santos and N'Doye at its disposal, may well catch the hosts in a counterattack. Basaksehir concedes in seven of the last eight home matches. And it is likely to concede once again.
Prediction for the match: FC Copenhagen to score over 0.5 goals
