All eyes on intercontinental derby between Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe

ISTANBUL

Following the international break, football fans in Turkey eye the coming intercontinental derby between Istanbul's fierce rivals, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, on Nov. 21.

The two teams are now quite far from the top of the league, so both need a victory to grip the title race in the Turkish Spor Toto Süper Lig.

Collecting 21 points, Galatasaray are in the fourth spot in the standings led by Trabzonspor, who have 30 points.

The Lions were held to a 1-1 draw against VavaCars Fatih Karagümrük at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on the previous matchday.

Meanwhile, visitors Fenerbahçe are in the seventh position with 20 points.

They crave a victory in the league as the Yellow-Canaries' last beat Kasımpaşa 2-1 at home on Oct. 3.

In the previous fixture, Fenerbahçe took a 2-2 draw against Yukatel Kayserispor in Istanbul.

The hotly anticipated derby on Galatasaray's home ground, Nef Stadium, will kick off at 1600GMT.

Fenerbahçe lead derbies

Out of the 394 clashes between the two Istanbul clubs, Fenerbahçe won more of the fixture with 147 victories compared to Galatasaray's 124, while the remaining 123 times ended in draws.

The Yellow-Navies also lead the goal count, having produced 513 over Galatasaray's 464.

In the 128 first-tier league matches, Galatasaray had 35 victories and Fenerbahçe had 50, as 43 games ended in a draw.

Galatasaray won the last derby against Fenerbahçe 1-0 as Egyptian forward Mostafa Mohamed scored the winning goal at Fenerbahçe's Ülker Stadium on Feb. 6.

The Lions' most lethal weapon this season has so far been Mohamed, who produced four goals.

For the Yellow-Canaries, Mesut Özil netted three goals and produced one assist.

The first game played between Fenerbahçe, based on the Asian side of Istanbul, and Galatasaray, located on the European side, was a friendly on Jan. 17, 1909.

The match was held at Papazın Çayırı, meaning the field of the priest, where the Ülker Stadium stands today. It ended with a 2-0 score in favor of Galatasaray.