BATE and Fenerbahçe meet for first time
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Article summary
Neither FC BATE Borisov nor Fenerbahçe SK have reached the round of 16 before, but at least one will make it through following the first tie between these two clubs.
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FC BATE Borisov will look to recapture their early season form as the Belarusian champions take on Turkish titans Fenerbahçe SK in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time. This is BATE's first tie against a Turkish club and Fenerbahçe's maiden encounter with Belarusian opponents.
• In total, nine previous UEFA club competition games have been played between Turkish and Belarusian sides, with the Turkish clubs having the better of them: W5 D1 L3 (W3 D0 L1 in Turkey, W2 D1 L2 in Belarus).
• No Belarusian club has beaten a Turkish side in four attempts since the turn of the millennium.
• The Turkish and Belarusian senior national teams have never met in a competitive fixture, though they have come together in three friendlies: Turkey beat Belarus 3-2 in Izmir in 1996 but lost 2-1 in Denizli in 2004, with the most recent encounter – in Minsk in 2008 – ending 2-2.
• BATE's Yegor Filipenko and Aleksandr Hleb came up against Fenerbahçe's Gökhan Gönül, Mehmet Topal and Selçuk Şahin in that most recent fixture.
Match background
• BATE made a sensational start to their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign this season, defeating LOSC Lille and FC Bayern München, both 3-1. However, four straight losses meant they finished third in Group F.
• The Belarusian champions last reached the round of 32 in 2010/11, the only time they have previously made it into the new year in UEFA competition. They bowed out straight away, losing on away goals after 2-2 and 0-0 draws against Paris Saint-Germain FC.
• Fenerbahçe have reached the round of 32 on three previous occasions, but have yet to win a game – let alone progress to the round of 16 – at this stage. They were eliminated by Real Zaragoza in 2004/05, AZ Alkmaar (2006/07) and LOSC (2009/10).
• BATE are without a win in their last four UEFA Europa League games.
• Winners of UEFA Europa League Group C, Fenerbahçe were victorious in all three of their away games during the autumn, keeping clean sheets in the last two.
Team facts
• Fenerbahçe goalkeeper Serkan Kırıntılı celebrates his 28th birthday the day after the first leg.
• Viktor Goncharenko's career as a defender at BATE was ended at the age of 25 by a knee injury, but he successfully switched to coaching, leading the club's reserves and taking the senior job in late 2007. He has since won five Belarusian titles in succession at BATE and in 2008/09 became the youngest coach in UEFA Champions League group stage history, aged 31.
• Aykut Kocaman made his name with Fenerbahçe as a striker, winning two titles in an eight-year stint (1988–96). He moved into coaching at Istanbulspor AŞ and – following spells at Malatyaspor, Konyaspor and Ankaraspor AŞ – became Fenerbahçe's director of football. He then became coach in 2010, winning the title in his first season and the Turkish Cup in the next campaign.
Round of 16: SSC Napoli/FC Viktoria Plzeň v BATE/Fenerbahçe
• The first legs will be played on 7 March, with the returns the following Thursday, on 14 March.
• BATE and Plzeň have met before, having been pooled together in last season's UEFA Champions League group stage: the sides drew 1-1 in Prague, but Plzeň prevailed 1-0 in Minsk. Plzeň finished third in Group H, with BATE ending up fourth.
