Things are just going from bad to worse for Besiktas ahead of the second leg of their Europa League Round of 32 tie with Liverpool on Thursday.
Going into the first leg, goalkeeper Tolga Zengin was ruled out for a month after damaging knee ligaments early in their dramatic 3-2 victory over Bursaspor. Understudy Cenk Gonen did a great job during the meeting at Anfield and almost made it out of the match with a clean-sheet only for Mario Balotelli’s late penalty to hand the hosts the win. The Turkish side were always going to be under the kosh in the second leg, but the pressure is being turned up that much more with news that not only is Demba Ba struggling with a knock, but attacking midfielder Gokhan Tore is as well.
“He picked up a knock to his left ankle in the Liverpool match,” said a team doctor ahead of Thursday’s meeting in Istanbul. “He does not have a lot of time to recover, but we are doing everything we can to get him ready in time for the Liverpool game. He missed training today but we will be doing everything possible to make sure he’s fit for Thursday.”
This is not the news that Besiktas boss Slaven Bilic would have wanted to hear going into a match that is so finely balanced. Coming off a shock loss to Eskisehirspor at the weekend, the Black Eagles have not only lost ground domestically, but their chances of moving on in Europe now look in question as well with the Reds visiting Turkey with their hot-streak intact after a contentious win over Southampton at the weekend saw Brendan Rodgers side keep up the pressure in their bid to finish in the top four. While both Ba and Tore are expected to be in the starting eleven on Thursday, how effective they’ll be is anyone’s guess.
