Basaksehir is currently experiencing the best moments in its history. Last season the Istanbul club won their first title, becoming the champion of the country. Prior to that, “Basaksehir” won only the first and second divisions. Thanks to its successes in the championship, “Basaksehir” plays for the first time in the group stage of the Champions League. The Turks started unsuccessfully, having lost to Leipzig (0:2). It is worth noting that the brightest performance of “Bashakshehir” in European competitions happened just last season. The Turks reached the 1/8 finals of the Europa League, taking first place in the group with Roma, Austrian Wolfsberg and Borussia M?nchengladbach. In the 1/16 finals, Basaksehir defeated the Portuguese Sporting (4:1, 1:3) and only in the 1/8 finals were eliminated from Copenhagen (1:0, 0:3). Prior to this, the Turks reached the group stage of the Europa League only once, taking the third place in the quartet there. The start of the team in the new championship was unsuccessful. Okan Buruk’s team lost all three first matches and only then earned seven points. This weekend, Bashakshehir defeated Antalyaspor at home (5:1). Muhammad Shengezer was injured by Bashakshehir. The participation of Nasser Shadli and Hasan Ali Kaldyrym is questionable.
The Dutch club, unlike their future rival, began their performance at the group stage with a defeat. Although the quality of the game hardly deserved it. Ajax took home Liverpool and lost with a score 0:1, although they had real chances to win back. The club from Amsterdam threw out sports anger in the national championship, showing that the aim in the attack was improved. Eric Ten Hag’s charges sent poor Venlo 13 unanswered goals (0:13). Striker Lassina Traore scored five goals. Ajax have already played seven official matches this season, in five of which they won. In addition to Liverpool, the Amsterdam club also lost to Groningham away (0:1) in the league. In both lost matches, “Ajax” did not score, while in four of the five victorious ones they scored at least two goals. In the last Champions League, Ajax have not lost a single match away. The Dutch managed to defeat Valencia (3:0) and Lille (2:0), whereas with Chelsea they rolled an effective draw. In general, on the fields of rivals, Ten Hag’s wards lost for the last time back in 2016. There are practically no personnel losses in Ajax. Only Mohammed Qudus is injured.
