Wounded Black Eagles eye European comfort against Partizan

ISTANBUL

Beşiktaş players are seen training. Beşiktaş is second behind Group C leader Tottenham, with both teams having accumulated five points in three games. AA Photo

Beşiktaş is ready to host Nov. 6 Belgrade’s FK Partizan on match day four of the UEFA Europa League Group C, as the Serbian side hopes to forget the revenge game of a 4-0 defeat on Oct. 23, its worst European home loss to date.

Beşiktaş, undefeated in six UEFA group stage encounters and four UEFA home games, follows group leader Tothenham Hotspurs, with both teams netting five points in the first three games. The British side, meanwhile, will face Greece’s Asterias, hoping to strengthen its position. 

Partizan is moored to the foot of the table and has yet to score in this season’s group stage. It has gone 15 matches without a UEFA group stage win since beating FC Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in their final game of the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League.

Beşiktaş is also looking for hope after losing the top seat to its archrivals Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Spor Toto Super League due to a 2-0 defeat Nov. 3 on its temporary home pitch, Atatürk Olimpyiat Stadium, which will be the venue for the Partizan game, too.

Good news for the Istanbul side came from the health squad, with right-back Serdar Kurtuluş recovering from injury. The team suffered much in the last two league games with the lack of an original man for the position.  

Black Sea side Trabzonspor is bidding to raise hopes against Lokeren with coach Vahid Halilhodžić, who is not having an easy time in his second spell in charge of Trabzonspor, though convinced his team is on the verge of a breakthrough.

Trabzon achieved six points in the first three games of Group L. However, even the Lokeren victory on Oct. 23 did not provide massive comfort for the perfectionist coach. “We’re still having some issues related to impatience when it comes to attacking,” he said.

Group leader Legia Warszawa is among the three teams that are coming into match day four with 100 percent records. It aims at a fourth successive win at home against FC Metalist Kharkiv and taking a step toward the final in their home city.

To say Inter Milan coach Walter Mazzarri is living on borrowed time as his side take on Saint-Etienne in the Europa League on Nov. 6 is little short of an understatement.

The 0-0 draw between the sides in Italy last time out may have left Inter comfortably on top of Group F with seven points, but the calls for Mazzarri’s head gathered force again over the weekend after a 2-0 away league defeat at struggling Parma.

Even club president Erick Thohir appears to have lost patience with the former Napoli coach.
Having thrown his weight behind the coach for much of a dismal start to the season, Thohir gave the strongest signal yet that Mazzarri’s job was hanging in the balance amid speculation that Roberto Mancini is ready to take over.

“We have to analyze the coach’s situation in as fair a way as possible,” AFP quoted Thohir as saying.