Celtic's hopes of reaching the Europa League knockout phase rest on beating Besiktas at Parkhead on Thursday, with the Premiership champions yet to pick up a point in the competition.
Martin O'Neill's side have lost all three of their opening matches, falling to Ferencvaros, Benfica and Celta Vigo, with two of those defeats coming at home.
Visitors in strong European form
Besiktas arrive in Glasgow with seven points from their three Europa League games so far. A thumping win over Marseille, an away victory at Hoffenheim and a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace with ten men have put them eighth in the table.
The Turkish side will be looking to bypass the playoff round and progress straight to the round of 16. Domestically, however, they sit six points behind Istanbul rivals Galatasaray in the Super Lig after surrendering a two-goal lead at the weekend.
Who are Besiktas?
Besiktas, officially Besiktas Jimnastik Kulubu, are one of the three Istanbul behemoths and were formed on March 3, 1903. Along with rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, they are one of Turkey's most successful clubs with 16 Super Lig titles and have never been relegated from the top flight. The 42,684-capacity Besiktas Stadium is located in central Istanbul.
They finished fourth on 60 points behind champions Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor, earning entry to the Europa League qualifying rounds. Midtjylland were dispatched 3-0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round, before two 1-0 victories in each leg against Czechs Hradec Kralove. A 3-0 first-leg win over Lithuania's Kauno-Zalgiris meant the 1-0 second-leg reverse meant little.
Manager and star man
Manager Vincenzo Italiano, born in Karlsruhe, West Germany, took over at Besiktas last June after leaving Bologna the previous month. He has recent European pedigree after guiding Fiorentina to back-to-back Conference League Finals, losing both to West Ham and Olympiacos respectively.
Italiano's playing career saw the midfielder turn out for Trapani, Hellas Verona (twice), Genoa, Chievo, Padova and Perugia over 20 years. He began his coaching journey in the amateur leagues before stepping into Serie C with former club Trapani. After winning promotion to Serie B, Spezia hired him to do the same again, this time guiding them into Serie A, before achieving safety in his first top-flight campaign, which persuaded Fiorentina to hire him. After two years in Florence, he moved on to Bologna, where he clinched the Coppa Italia at the end of his first season, beating Milan in the final and delivering a first cup win to the club for 51 years. He left at the end of last season by mutual consent.
Star man Dusan Vlahovic tops the club's scoring charts with seven goals in eight games after joining on a free from Juventus in the summer, reportedly on big money. He made club history when he became the first player since the 2000-2001 season to score in each of his first four matches in the starting lineup for the Istanbul club. Fifty goals in 123 games for Juve adds to his pedigree, and he will likely be the biggest threat to Celtic's chances. Former Arsenal star Leandro Trossard is the man expected to provide for Vlahovic.
Familiar faces and previous meetings
Competing with Vlahovic for a striking spot is Hyeon-gyu Oh, an Ange Postecoglou signing at Celtic who never really got an extended run in the team. A switch to Genk proved to be the making of the 25-year-old, and he was on the verge of a £30million switch to Stuttgart before a knee issue cropped up in the medical. Genk refused to convert the switch from a permanent deal to a loan, and Celtic missed out on a substantial cut of the fee. He joined Besiktas last winter for €14million.
Former Rangers left-back Ridvan Yilmaz is back with his boyhood team after Rangers paid £5million for him in 2022, returning in 2025 for an undisclosed fee, and is likely to start on his return to Glasgow. Vaclav Cerny is unlikely to be involved, so there will be no return to the scene of the crime. The Czech winger's last appearance at Celtic Park saw him promoted to public enemy number one after squirting the home fans with a water bottle following Hamza Igamane's late derby winner. The Turks will also recognise Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who spent two years with them before being frozen out by Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Besiktas' best ever European campaign came in 1986/87 when they reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup, brutally eliminated 7-0 on aggregate by Valeriy Lobanovskyi's legendary Dynamo Kyiv side. Since then, their best showing was reaching the last 16 in 2017/18, again on the end of a heavy aggregate defeat, this time going down 8-1 to Bayern Munich. They have twice reached the last eight of the UEFA Cup/Europa League; in 2002/03 when they were beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Lazio, and in 2016/17, agonisingly losing out 7-6 on penalties to Lyon.
This will be the first ever meeting of the two clubs.
