Besiktas traveled to Amsterdam with a thinned out selection for the meeting with Ajax on Tuesday evening (6.45 pm) in the group stage of the Champions League. Trainer Sergen Yalçin is struggling with major personnel problems, as a result of which he has to miss no fewer than eleven players. Nevertheless, the Besiktas coach is counting on a good result.
Welinton Souza, Domagoj Vida, Atiba Hutchinson, Mehmet Topal, Necip Uysal, Rachid Ghezzal, Kevin N’Koudou, Alex Teixeira, Cyle Larin, Javier Montero and Miralem Pjanic are missing from Besiktas against Ajax. “We are missing a lot of players, but we are not going to hide behind the guys who are not there. We must go into the game with full dedication and give everything until the final whistle,” Yalçin is quoted as saying by fanatic in the run-up to the duel in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
The coach also received good news en route to Tuesday evening’s game, as doubtful Michy Batshuayi, Oguzhan Özyakup and Salih Uçan are available. “When we all fight against Ajax for ninety minutes, I am convinced that we will not return from the Netherlands empty-handed,” said the trainer. Besiktas started the group stage of the Champions League with a 1-2 home loss against Borussia Dortmund. Ajax started with a 1-5 win over Sporting Portugal.
In the run-up to the match against Besiktas, Ajax fueled confidence against FC Groningen on Saturday evening. For their own audience, the team of coach Erik ten Hag was too strong for Danny Buijs’ team 3-0 due to goals from Edson Álvarez, Antony and Noussair Mazraoui. A day earlier, Besiktas lost 2-1 to Altay, the current number two of the Turkish Süper Lig.