In their Europa Conference League opener on Wednesday, Istanbul Basaksehir and Rapid Vienna will both be looking to start their league phase campaigns with a win.
After losing the Europa League playoff round 4-3 on aggregate, the visitors were demoted to the Europa Conference League, and the hosts won the playoff round 2-0 to guarantee their status in the competition.
Istanbul had a very poor 2020–21 season after winning the Turkish Super Lig title for the first time ever in 2019–20; they finished in a lackluster 12th place.
In the ensuing three seasons, the Grey Owls have succeeded in making a comeback towards the top of the standings, placing fourth in 2021–22, fifth in 2022–23, and fourth once more in 2023–24.
Since taking over in September 2023, Cagdas Atan has led his squad to a strong start to the season with the goal of moving up the table and closing the gap to the league's best teams.
In all competitions, Istanbul has only dropped one of their first 12 games. They began the season with a remarkable 10-game winning streak before suffering their first loss to Samsunspor.
With three games remaining against three of the four teams above them, Atan's team defeated Sivasspor 2-1 to quickly recover from that heartbreaking loss. With 13 points from six games, they are currently fifth in the Turkish Super Lig standings.
Though the visitors could provide a difficult test, the hosts will be eager to continue building their early-season momentum following their first loss with another victory on Wednesday.
Similar to Rapid Vienna, they have had a great start to their 2024–25 campaign, having won 10 of their first 16 games in all competitions and lost just two of them.
Robert Klauss's team was demoted to Europe's third division after losing to Sporting Braga 4-3 in the playoff round, after starting the season with aspirations of making the Europa League.
On the other hand, Rapid Vienna may have a better chance of making it deep into the Europa Conference League than the more competitive Europa League, thus this could work to Klauss and his team's advantage.
The visitors, who have won their past six games, will be eager to begin their European campaign with a victory on Wednesday. They also have a lot of confidence going into the match.
