Uefa Conference League playoff round, 2nd leg: Basaksehir Istanbul (0) v St Patrick’s Athletic (0), Fatih Terim Stadium, Istanbul, 5pm Irish time – live on Solid Sport stream
“Ironically, it is not a ‘welcome to hell’ cauldron,” said Stephen Kenny in advance of St Patrick’s Athletic’s journey to the precipice of group stage European football.
“It’s not 50,000, they only get 5,000 at their matches. Basaksehir are the government party’s team. They have a fantastic stadium but attendances are not on a par with all the other teams [in Istanbul].”
The Justice and Development Party have ruled Turkey under president Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2014. That same year seven investors bought the club and renamed it Basaksehir FK. In 2020, they broke the dominance of rival Istanbul clubs Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce by winning the Super Lig and reaching the Champions League.
“They have won that league against all those great teams, so it shows you what can happen,” said Kenny. “But I said to the players: ‘you are not going into a cauldron. The crowd won’t be bigger than it was [in Tallaght]. So have no fears’.”
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St Pat’s can consider themselves unlucky not to be taking a 2-0 lead to Istanbul for a second leg that essentially amounts to a €4 million decider.
Victory sends St Pat’s into the Uefa Conference League group stages draw on Friday in Monaco. Shamrock Rovers should join them and possibly Chelsea as a lucrative four months of European football is guaranteed. Only Rovers (2011, 2022) and Dundalk (2016, 2020) have previously escaped the qualifiers.
Survive this evening and, under the new format, St Pat’s will face six different clubs from September to December with a win worth €400,000. The entire League of Ireland prize money across three divisions is €765,000.
That the FAI needed two Kenny press conferences, during which the former Republic of Ireland manager spelled out the ridiculous scenario of his team being forced to play Dundalk last Sunday, in between the Basaksehir ties, shone a light on the disconnect between the Association and its clubs. It took until 5.28pm last Friday for sense to prevail and St Pat’s trip to Oriel Park was postponed until Thursday, September 5th.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the national broadcasters as RTÉ, TG4 and Virgin Media all declined to bring talent like Zachary Elbouzedi, Chris Forrester and Jake Mulraney to the masses. Premier Sports have exclusive rights to the group stages.
For Kenny, it is a chance to rapidly revive a career, nine months after his time as Ireland manager ended with a depressing 1-1 draw against New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium. If his days on the sideline were to be numbered, how the 52-year-old prepared and motivated St Pat’s to perform in the first leg would stand as a lasting tribute to his managerial abilities.
Arguably, Cagdas Atan failed to take the third best club in Dublin seriously. The Basaksehir coach will not be caught cold twice.
“We are excited, eager, ready,” said Atan. “It is a very important ‘final’ in terms of the financial situation, being able to offer potential players to Europe, testing our own game and increasing the brand value of the club.
“Similarly, it is perhaps the most important match in St Patrick’s history. They showed us how much they care in the first leg. We had problems in the attack but we obtained important data. We need to dominate the game but we also need to pay attention to the transitions. We are ready, I trust my players.”
Hamza Güreler, the 18-year-old centre half, who duelled with St Pat’s teenager Mason Melia in Tallaght, added: “I think we will play good football tomorrow and win with a great score.”
St Pat’s are without Romal Palmer as the nimble English midfielder limped out of the first leg but that provided an opportunity for Louth native Kian Leavy to bound off the bench and almost score a sensational goal.
Again, that’s the problem, Atan and Basaksehir are forewarned.
“We’ve been the underdog in all four qualifying rounds,” said Kenny on Tuesday. “What we won’t do is underestimate ourselves.”
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