For either of Istanbul’s so-called ‘Big Two’, merely to trail the other in the league table hurts.
To lag by 16 points at the beginning of March, the distance between gloomy Galatasaray and flourishing Fenerbahce, counts as a deep crisis for the reigning champions.
What is worse for the club that regards itself as the grandest on the football cityscape of Turkey’s major metropolis, is that the other heavyweight in town, Besiktas, are peering down on them, too, with a 14-point advantage and a match in hand.
There is a tight Super Lig title race on this spring, and as in most years, it is about a pair of Istanbul contenders. Fenerbahce’s 2-0 win over Besiktas on Monday meant the yellow-and-blues leapfrogged the black-and-whites into first spot, though Fenerbahce have played one match more.
The nearest challenger, in third, are Konyaspor, but they are no challengers at all, 11 points back of Besiktas with a third of the calendar left to play.
You have to scroll down further to find the name of the title holders. Galatasaray are having a dreadful time in fifth.
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Their Super Lig title defence ran into trouble well before they last month waved goodbye to a third different coach since December 2014, the veteran Mustafa Denizli having been removed from the post after he failed to arrest a slide.
Minds in the boardroom are now turning as urgently to finding answers to the slump as preparing an appeal against a Uefa ban, officially imposed last week, that will see Gala prohibited from competing in Europe next season – if they even qualify for the Europa League – a punishment for having infringed Financial Fair Play regulations.
Two years back, Galatasaray were taking on Chelsea for a place in the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League.
They had knocked Juventus out of that competition, had Didier Drogba at centre-forward and Wesley Sneijder pulling the strings behind him.
They won the league and the Turkish Cup the following year and went into a busy summer of trading confident they had strengthened enough to consolidate their position at the summit of the domestic game.
Certainly, Galatasaray spent lavishly to put themselves a step ahead of Fenerbahce. The fact that Drogba and Sneijder chose to go to Turkey was an endorsement of the ambitious Super Lig, and between 2011 and 2014 the club registered losses of around €160million (Dh645m).
Uefa have looked at the balance sheet and declared it far beyond their guidelines.
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European football’s governing confederation deem an annual loss higher than €45m as unacceptable. In Turkish football, salaries have risen sharply among the big clubs.
Last summer brought in a clutch of famous names. Gala signed Lukas Podolski, 12 months after he had won the World Cup with Germany; he is their leading goalscorer but by no means the most effective of the seasoned strikers who made their way to Turkey last summer. Mario Gomez, another German, has struck 16 goals in Besiktas’s title bid, while the much-travelled Samuel Eto’o, hired by provincial Antalyaspor, is the division’s next most prolific marksman.
Sneijder, 31 and a Galatasaray player for more than three years, was a pathfinder for that calibre of footballer. His immediate future looks bleak.
The Netherlands, his national team, failed to reach the summer’s European championships, and now the continental stage looks out of reach for his club, eliminated by Lazio in the current Europa League and now under Uefa sanction.
On present form – Gala’s only victory in their last five games was a 2-1 win over Trabzonspor in which their opponents had four men sent off – they would not even be qualifying for Europe in any case.
“I intend to continue fighting for Galatasaray,” Sneijder said ahead of this weekend’s meeting with Basaksehir.
At stake most immediately in that fixture is mere civic pride.
Basaksehir are an Istanbul club, too, but no giant on the city’s landscape. Yet, sitting in fourth spot, they are still a place above the slouching, stuttering Turkish champions.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – FRANCK RIBERY (Bayern Munich)
The Bayern Munich midfielder, has just returned to full footballing action since a serious injury almost one year ago.
New beginning
The French winger calls it “like starting a new life.” Over 11 months until late February, he had played barely an hour of competitive football, but he completed his first 90 minutes for Bayern in midweek, had the unusual sensation of tasting defeat, against Mainz, and will hope to play a big role in the Bundesliga ‘Klassiker’, at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Blank year
Ribery, once so essential to Bayern’s attacking play that he and Arjen Robben, his fellow wing wizard, were known as ‘Robbery’ or ‘RibRob’ for the way they tore through opposition full-backs, had all but vanished for most of this season. An ankle injury sustained against Shaktar Donetsk a year ago kept him out for nine months. He returned in December, but tentatively and briefly. A thigh problem put him back.
Fans favourite
Ribery has long been the prankster of the Bayern dressing-room, where he brought his roguish spirit back in 2007, joining from Olympique Marseille. He has had his ups and downs, like being suspended from the 2010 Champions League final, which Bayern lost, some off-the-field controversies. Though he has had a difficult relationship with the public in his native France – he retired from international football, on 81 caps – a large section of the Bayern noisy fan-base are back him loyally.
Century of assists
They were pleased to see him back at the Allianz on Wednesday, after his lengthy absence, to see him taking on defenders, and, encouragingly, beating them. A sharp turn of pace has always been a key component of Ribery’s game. One fear was that the grave injuries – he has suffered several in his career – would erode that asset. Two passes that set up goals in his three Bundesliga games since the comeback are reassuring and took him past the milestone of 100 assists in his career with the German club.
Beyond Guardiola
His coach Pep Guardiola has this season overseen great progress from two younger, new wingers at Bayern, Brazilian Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman, Ribery’s French compatriot. But Guardiola has also praised Ribery, 32. “He’s one of the most important players in Bayern’s history,” said the Catalan coach, who will leave at the end of the season. “He’s shown he still has a big part to play for us.” Ribery has an eye on the managerial succession, though, and studiously praised Carlo Ancelotti, who will replace Guardiola in July, in a recent interview. He is not yet ready to wave goodbye to Munich.
MATCH OF THE WEEK – Rangers v Dundee
Fallen Scottish giants Rangers can make a statement of intent when they meet Premiership side Dundee in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
The Glasgow side were dissolved for financial irregularities and their reincarnation were relegated to the bottom of the Scottish Second Division – the country’s fourth tier – in 2012.
They are now leading the Championship table from Hibernian, and challenging themselves against Premiership opponents should set a benchmark for what they can expect next season if they gain promotion.
Dundee held Premiership leaders Celtic to a 0-0 draw midweek and are currently in fifth position in the league. While they may have their work cut out if they are to realise their ambitions of returning to Europe next season, their opponents can rest easy knowing they are 14 points clear in the Championship standings and are all but guaranteed to be playing in the Premiership next season.
Taking another Premieriership scalp – they beat Kilmarnock 2-1 in the fifth round last month – and securing a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals at Hampden Park would be a big bonus for Rangers.
Rangers manager Mark Warburton will again have to cope without cup-tied Michael O’Halloran and Billy King at Ibrox. But veteran forward Kenny Miller and Barrie McKay are both likely to return at Ibrox after being rested for the 2-0 win over Raith Rovers on Tuesday.
Match live on beIN Sports HD 13, 4.30pm
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