Conference League

LIVE from 16:30: Rapid must play at Basaksehir

What can Guido Burgstaller and his Rapid team do against Başakşehir?

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Conference League opener: SK Rapid face Başakşehir in Istanbul. We report live (see below) from this game! 

Here is the LIVETICKER:

Rapid face another visit to Turkey to kick off the league phase of the Conference League. The Hütteldorfer will face Başakşehir in Istanbul, their second Süper Liga club in two months. In August, there were two wins in the Europa League qualifiers against Trabzonspor, which secured Green-White's participation in a main European Cup competition for the first time since the 2021/22 season.

Rapid coach Robert Klauß

(Bild: GEPA)

"The atmosphere is a bit different!"
More than 33,000 spectators came to the stadium for Rapid's 1-0 win in Trabzon, but this time the 10,000 mark will probably not even be broken. Başakşehir are clearly overshadowed by their big city rivals Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas, with the 17,000-capacity Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium - named after the Turkish coaching legend - averaging less than 4,000 spectators in the five home games this season. "The atmosphere is a bit different," said coach Robert Klauß ahead of Tuesday's departure.

The German is not allowed to be in the coaching zone against Başakşehir due to his red card after the EL play-off return match against Braga. "It won't be easy for me to have to sit in the stands. But the team is well prepared, the coaching team thinks the same way I do. We'll coordinate everything beforehand," said Klauß.

Rapid captain Matthias Seidl

(Bild: GEPA)

"Başakşehir is an opponent that has a lot of quality in its squad!"
His charges would know what to do even without their head coach, the 39-year-old speculated. "Before the game in preparation and in the analysis, it's important that I'm there and say how we're going to approach it and set the direction. During the game, they can solve a lot of things on their own," explained Klauß.

His suspension does not dampen the anticipation for the game. "We've prepared well, the qualifying phase has whetted our appetite for more," said Klauß. Basaksehir are in fifth place in the table and their most prominent player is probably Krzysztof Piatek, who scored Poland's goal against the ÖFB team at the EURO in Germany. "Başakşehir is an opponent that has a lot of quality in its squad and has finished in the top five of the Süper Lig ten times in the last eleven years. What's more, the Istanbul side have regularly succeeded in the group stages of various UEFA competitions in the recent past," warned Klauß.

Rapid goalkeeper Niklas Hedl

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"We really wanted to play a match every three days!"
But things are not going badly for Rapid this season either - in 16 competitive matches, they have only suffered two defeats. "We can look back on many positive games and naturally want to win in Istanbul too," said the coach. Klauß is unperturbed by the fact that his squad are already facing their 17th game in just over two months. "We really wanted to play a match every three days in the fall and we prepared as well as possible for this throughout the summer."

Klauß will have to do without Isak Jansson in Istanbul, who will not be back until after the international break due to knee problems. The Green-Whites will be accompanied by around 550 fans. A win against Basaksehir would bring Rapid a big step closer to their big goal of reaching the international stage next year: To do so, they would have to finish the league phase in the top 24 out of a total of 36 clubs.