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Türkiye's Samsunspor will go into their UEFA Europa Conference League home match against Greek side AEK knowing that a victory would guarantee them a place among the top eight teams in the league phase and keep them on course for the last 16 of the competition.
The game will be played at Samsun Yeni 19 Mayis Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 8:45 p.m. local time, with French referee Jeremie Pignard in charge, assisted by Aurelien Drouet and Thomas Luczynski, while Ruddy Buquet will act as fourth official.
Competing in the Europa Conference League for the first time in their history, and acting as the only representative of Türkiye in this season’s tournament, Samsunspor have put together an impressive start to the league phase. They have collected 10 points from their first four matches, winning three of them and drawing one, which has allowed them to sit at the top of the standings on goal difference.
The Black Sea club opened its European campaign with an away win over Polish side Legia Warsaw and then recorded back-to-back three-goal victories against Ukrainian club Dinamo Kiev and Maltese team Hamrun Spartans in Samsun. They remained unbeaten when they visited Icelandic side Breidablik, where they came away with a draw, and they have scored nine goals while conceding only two across these four fixtures.
Samsunspor will complete the league phase against German team Mainz 05 after facing AEK, but the Turkish side want to resolve their qualification scenario as early as possible by winning at home against the Greek club.
Head coach Thomas Reis underlined in his pre-match press conference at Yeni 19 Mayis Stadium that the AEK fixture represents a major step in its European journey and pointed out that a positive result would be enough to finish the league phase in the top eight. He recalled that Samsunspor had previously hosted another Greek team earlier in the season, when the stadium was full and the atmosphere was intense, yet it was unable to achieve the result it had wanted on that occasion.
Reis stressed that he sees clear progress in his players since that earlier meeting with the Greek opposition and noted that the team now feels they deserve strong backing from the stands. Referring to the potential of a packed stadium to lift his squad, he said he hoped it would “get a good result and keep writing history” so that they could celebrate with the supporters after the final whistle.
The German coach remarked that leading the Conference League standings has not turned into a negative kind of pressure for the squad, although he accepted that every match brings its own tension. He explained that the group feels what he described as a positive pressure as it looks to win and finish among the first eight, which would allow it to move into the last 16 of the competition.
Reis also looked back at the recent domestic league match against Galatasaray, where he felt the team played too politely in the first half and allowed its opponents to settle into the game, but then showed strong character and mentality in the second period. He repeated that the three goals they conceded resulted from their own mistakes rather than refereeing decisions, while he said the late penalty awarded against them was very difficult for them to accept. The coach believes that if Samsunspor can reproduce the level they reached in the second half of the Galatasaray match, they will give themselves an important opportunity against AEK.
Samsunspor will not be able to use every member of their squad, despite receiving some positive news on the injury front. Forwards Cherif Ndiaye and Eyup Aydin, who joined the club after the Europa Conference League squad list had already been submitted, cannot play against AEK because they are not registered for the competition.
On the other hand, Olivier Ntcham, Tanguy Coulibaly and Lubomir Satka have recovered after missing the match against Breidablik through injury, and they are waiting for a chance to return to the pitch if Reis decides to include them. Midfielder Afonso Sousa remains sidelined with an ongoing injury problem, while Celil Yuksel is unavailable after receiving a 45-day suspension from the Professional Football Disciplinary Board as part of a betting investigation.
Although this is Samsunspor’s first season in the Europa Conference League, they are not newcomers to European competition overall. The club have played 16 matches in European tournaments to date, winning nine of them, drawing two and losing five, while scoring 25 goals and conceding 16.
Their record against Greek clubs has also been largely positive. In total, Samsunspor have faced Greek opponents six times, earning three victories, one draw and two defeats. They first met Iraklis in the 1987–1988 Balkan Cup, winning heavily at home but losing narrowly in the return leg in Greece. Later, in the 1993–1994 edition of the same competition, they beat PAS Giannina in both matches.
Most recently, they took on Panathinaikos in the Europa League play-off round earlier this season, losing the first leg by a single goal and drawing the second leg without goals, which led to their elimination from that competition. They have since moved into the Europa Conference League and are attempting to build on that experience.
Samsunspor’s attacking strength has been spread across several players in the Conference League, yet central forward Marius Mouandilmadji has emerged as their leading scorer. The team’s nine goals in the league phase have come from Mouandilmadji, Carlo Holse, Anthony Musaba and Emre Kilinc, with the Chadian striker contributing four goals, Holse and Musaba adding two each, and Kilinc scoring once.
These figures place Mouandilmadji in the race for the competition’s top scorer, alongside players such as Franko Kovacevic of NK Celje and Nardin Mulahusejnovic of FC Noah, who currently stand just ahead or level with him on the goal chart. Speaking before the AEK match, the striker said he was pleased to score goals and help the team, but he insisted that the collective outcome matters more than individual statistics.
He emphasised that Samsunspor are preparing carefully for both the domestic Super Lig and the Europa Conference League at the same time and that they aim to give their best in every competition they enter. Looking ahead to the AEK game, he described Samsunspor as a good team and stated, “We are a good team. We will focus on our own playing system as a team when we go into this match. I hope we win the AEK game.”
The team carried out their last training session for the AEK fixture at Nuri Asan Facilities under the guidance of Thomas Reis. The opening part of the session was accessible to the media, during which the players completed running and coordination exercises. The remainder of the training, which focused on tactical work for the upcoming match, was held behind closed doors.
Ndiaye, Aydin, Sousa and Yuksel did not take part in the session due to eligibility issues, injury and suspension, respectively. The rest of the squad continued their preparations for a match that could confirm Samsunspor’s place among the top eight teams in the Europa Conference League league phase and allow them to take another step in what has already become a notable European campaign for the club and for Türkiye.
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