Lugano will be fighting for a place in the Europa League against Besiktas Istanbul, while Servette and St. Gallen have European business at stake at the gateway to the Conference League.
Lugano - Besiktas Istanbul
Lugano will play the first leg against Besiktas Istanbul on Thursday in Thun (20:30) and the second leg a week later in Turkey. The winner qualifies for the group stage of the Europa League, which guarantees a starting bonus of 4.31 million euros. The loser advances to the group stage of the Conference League (€3.17 million).
The Turks, coached by Dutchman Giovanni van Bronckhorst since the beginning of July and with whom Gökhan Inler was under contract until this summer, only finished 6th in the Süper Lig last season. They secured their place in the Europa League qualifiers by winning the cup.
While Lugano already have two matches behind them, one of which was in Champions League qualifying, this will be Besiktas' first European Cup appearance of the season. Besiktas have made a successful start to the 2024/25 season. After two rounds, the team leads the Süper Lig table with maximum points. They also outclassed champions Galatasaray Istanbul 5:0 in the Turkish Super Cup. Two goals were scored by Italian newcomer Ciro Immobile, who has also scored twice in the league.
Other well-known names in the Besiktas squad include Turkish European Championship participants Mert Günok (goalkeeper) and Semih Kilicsoy (striker), Portuguese players Rafa Silva and Gedson Fernandes as well as Milot Rashica, who is well-known from the Bundesliga and the Kosovo national team, and former Brazilian Arsenal full-back Gabriel Paulista. Meanwhile, Immobile's predecessor Cenk Tosun moved within Istanbul to league rivals Fenerbahce in the summer.
For Lugano, who beat Partizan Belgrade in extra time a week ago, this is the second clash with an opponent from Istanbul. Coach Mattia Croci-Torti's team lost 4:6 to Fenerbahce, the runners-up of the previous season, in the Champions League qualifiers at the end of July - still without Renato Steffen, who was on vacation after the European Championship.
Chelsea - Servette
Servette's path to the Conference League leads via the most prominent of all possible opponents in the clash against Chelsea. The first leg takes place on Thursday (21:00) in London.
Since the change of ownership from Roman Abramovich to a US consortium led by billionaires Todd Boehly and Swiss Hansjörg Wyss, Chelsea has resembled a London bazaar of millions. More than a billion euros have been spent on more than 50 new players since the takeover.
Apart from the fact that Chelsea buy most of their players above market value and that, with a few exceptions, they do not belong to the top segment of world football, there is no clear structure. There are currently no fewer than 42 players in the squad, including six goalkeepers and the recently signed ex-Basel player Renato Veiga. The team, newly coached by Italian Enzo Maresca, lost their first competitive match of the season 2-0 against champions Manchester City.
St. Gallen - Trabzonspor
St. Gallen, like Lugano in the battle for the Europa League and Young Boys in the battle for the Champions League, will face a Turkish opponent at the gateway to the Conference League after the wild, narrowly won duel against Slask Wroclaw, in which Willem Geubbels scored from the penalty spot in the 18th minute of stoppage time in the second leg to make it 4-3. The first leg against Trabzonspor will take place on Thursday at 9 p.m. at Kybunpark, with the second leg a week later on the Black Sea coast.
Trabzonspor, which won the double in 2022 under current coach Abdullah Avci, finished third in the Süper Lig last season and reached the cup final. A week ago, the team with former Atlético defender Stefan Savic failed to qualify for the Europa League, losing 3-0 on aggregate to Rapid Vienna. In the league, the team drew 0-0 against Sivasspor in the season opener.
SDA