Turkish Süper Lig starts on Aug 16
ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency
Turkish top tier football league, the Süper Lig is set to kick off on Aug. 16 as the 81-day break ends.
The opening match of the 2019-2020 season will be played between Yukatel Denizlispor and Galatasaray, the latest winner of the league.
This season 306 matches will be played as there are 18 teams from 12 Turkish provinces.
Yukatel Denizlispor, Gençlerbirliği and Gazişahir Gaziantep are the teams promoted to the Süper Lig.
Bursaspor, Akhisarspor and Büyükşehir Belediye Erzurumspor were in the Süper Lig last season but they were relegated to a lower division in May.
There are five teams from Istanbul this season, Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, Kasımpaşa and Medipol Başakşehir.
Two teams are from the capital Ankara, MKE Ankaragücüand Gençlerbirliği.
The first half of this season will end on December 29 and the second half will begin on Jan. 17, 2020.
Süper Lig will end on May 17, 2020.
The Intercontinental Derby between two Istanbul giants, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe will be on match day six and it will be played at Galatasaray's home, Turk Telekom Stadium.
Beşiktaş will host city rivals Galatasaray at Vodafone Park on match day nine.
Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş will meet in the 16th week at Fenerbahçe's home ground ÜlkerStadium.
Matchday one fixtures:
Aug. 16:
Yukatel Denizlispor-Galatasaray at 1730GMT
Aug. 17:
Gençlerbirliği-Çaykur Rizespor at 1615GMT
İstikbal Mobilya Kayserispor-Alanyaspor at 1845GMT
Demir Grup Sivasspor-Beşiktaş at 1845GMT
Aug. 18:
Konyaspor-MKE Ankaragücü at 1615GMT
Göztepe-Antalyaspor at 1615GMT
Yeni Malatyaspor-Medipol Başakşehir at 1845GMT
Kasımpaşa-Trabzonspor at 1845GMT
Aug. 19:
Fenerbahçe-Gazişehir Gaziantep at 1700GMT
