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Besiktas faces Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Athletic on Thursday night in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round, marking its 255th match in European competitions.
The match will kick off at 9:45 p.m. (GMT +3) at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin, with Slovenian referee David Smajc set to officiate.
The Turkish side completed its final training session at BJK Nevzat Demir Facilities under the guidance of head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The session began with conditioning and passing drills, before switching to a closed portion focused on match tactics.
Mustafa Hekimoglu and Can Keles missed the session due to injuries, while Felix Uduokhai was absent because of illness. All three were left out of the squad traveling to Ireland.
Jean Onana, as well as UEFA-ineligible players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Emrecan Uzunhan, were also not included in the squad list.
The squad includes: Mert Gunok, Ersin Destanoglu, Emre Bilgin, Jonas Svensson, Gabriel Paulista, Necip Uysal, Tayyip Talha Sanuc, David Jurasek, Emirhan Topcu, Tayfur Bingol, Emrecan Terzi, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Amir Hadziahmetovic, Milot Rashica, Salih Ucan, Orkun Kokcu, Keny Arroyo, Kartal Kayra Yilmaz, Joao Mario, Ernest Muci, Rafa Silva, Almoatasem Al-Musrati, Tammy Abraham.
In his pre-match press conference, head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his team is prepared for a challenging match: “After the Shakhtar Donetsk matches, we were disappointed, but now we are in a new competition. We will give our best.”
The Norwegian coach noted that players showed a strong reaction during the week’s training. “It will be a tough match. Basaksehir drew here 0-0 last year. We know our opponent will fight. They are in form, and they have a 17-year-old forward transferring to Tottenham. We will keep an eye on him.”
Asked whether recent criticism added pressure to the team, Solskjaer responded, “Pressure is a privilege. When things go wrong, pressure can be hard, but it also reveals character and talent. There will always be criticism and praise. We have to move forward. We look at this tournament one game, one round at a time. Of course, we dream of the final.”
He emphasized respect for the Irish opponent, stating: “If we think we are better than any team, we are wrong. They want to win, too. We have to respect that. There are no easy wins.”
On St. Patrick’s forward Mason Melia, Solskjaer said: “At this level, at this age, the way he plays physically and finishes–he is a top player. I will follow his career. I believe he can play in the Premier League.”
Defender Emirhan Topcu also addressed the media, stating: “The Shakhtar games didn’t go well for us in terms of both result and performance. We came to Ireland with that in mind. We came to win. We don’t want to make mistakes anymore.”
With domestic league action also starting soon, Topcu said the team is focused: “We want to win every game. We trained well. We want to go as far as we can in the Conference League.”
Commenting on fan support, Topcu added: “Our supporters are everywhere. Besiktas is a big club. They never hold back their support, and we will do our best to give them what they want.”
Thursday’s fixture will be the first time Besiktas faces an Irish club in European competition. St. Patrick’s, meanwhile, previously met Türkiye’s Basaksehir in the 2024–2025 playoff round. After a 0–0 draw in Ireland, it was eliminated with a 2–0 defeat in Türkiye.
Besiktas has won 95, drawn 49 and lost 110 of its 254 European matches to date, scoring 340 goals and conceding 390. The club has played 12 matches in the UEFA Conference League since the tournament’s inception, winning 7, drawing 1 and losing 4. It scored 21 goals and conceded 19 in the competition.
The Black Eagles have reached the quarterfinals of European competitions three times: in the 1986–87 European Cup, the 2002–03 UEFA Cup, and the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.
Their biggest European win was a 6–0 victory over B36 Torshavn in 2018–19. Their heaviest defeat came in an 8–0 loss to Liverpool in the 2007–08 Champions League.
Oktay Derelioglu is Besiktas' all-time top scorer in European competitions with 14 goals. He is followed by Vincent Aboubakar and Cenk Tosun with 13 each. Ricardo Quaresma and Bobo each scored 12.
Among the current squad, Rafa Silva has three goals, Milot Rashica, Salih Ucan and Joao Mario each have two, while Al-Musrati, Emrecan Terzi, Ernest Muci, Tayfur Bingol, Necip Uysal and Tammy Abraham have each scored once.
St. Patrick’s: Anang; Grivosti, McClelland, McLaughlin, Redmond; Lennon, Leavy, Mulraney, Power; Baggley, Melia
Besiktas: Mert; Svensson, Paulista, Necip Uysal, Emirhan Topcu, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Kartal Kayra, Joao Mario, Rafa Silva, Muci, Abraham
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