On Thursday night Besiktas and Lyon go head-to-head in the Europa League quarter-final second leg at the Vodafone Arena in Istanbul.
Lyon came back from a goal down to win the first leg 2-1 in France, so head into this clash with only a narrow advantage. The French side will need any advantage they can get against the Turkish side, who have only suffered one defeat on home soil all season.
Senol Gunes’ team managed to draw all three of their home Champions League games and have recorded wins in their last two Europa League games, so the Turkish side could be a tough nut to crack for the visitors.
Besiktas have not played since that first leg defeat by OL, but prior to the loss were in decent form, recording three wins from their previous four games in all competitions. That good home record could be the key in this clash, as last time out in this competition the home side hammered Olympiakos 4-1 at the Vodafone Arena.
Lyon’s recent form has been decent. However, Bruno Genesio’s side have not been great on their travels in the Europa League of late, losing three of their last six away outings in the competition. The visitors suffered a 2-1 defeat at Roma in their last Europa League away trip. A similar result here would take the tie into extra time.
Lyon’s away games in this competition have been high-scoring of late, with over 2.5 goals scored in five of their last six outings in Europe’s secondary competition.
Both teams head into this clash without key players. Besiktas are without the likes of Demba Ba, Ricardo Quaresma and Marcelo, while Lyon are without former Manchester United duo Memphis Depay and Rafael.
There is not too much between these two teams and Forebet predicts that this game will end all-square and Lyon will progress to the last four of the competition.