Beşiktaş play their second match of the UEFA Europa League league phase away to Germany's TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Thursday evening. The game at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena kicks off at 22:00 Turkish time, according to Fanatik, and will be shown live and unencrypted on TRT 1, with Fanatik also running a live text commentary.
Belgian referee Lawrence Visser will take charge of the match.
Fanatik lists the probable Hoffenheim line-up as Baumann, Coufal, Ozan Kabak, Machida, Rots, Burger, Avdullahu, Conte, Cat, Hlozek and Lemperle. The probable Beşiktaş eleven is Nübel, Murillo, Agbadou, Ümit Akdağ, Rıdvan Yılmaz, Salih Özcan, Olaitan, Orkun Kökçü, İlhan Fakılı, Trossard and Oh.
Why it matters
Beşiktaş opened the league phase by beating Olympique Marseille 4-1 at home, and a win in Germany would strengthen their position early in the competition. Head coach Vincenzo Italiano said at his pre-match press conference that qualifying from the group is the club's main target, adding that it makes little difference to him whether the team finishes in the top eight or in the 9-24 bracket.
The Italian noted that the two leagues his side competes in are very different from one another and that European nights carry their own character. He also recalled the three difficult qualifying rounds Beşiktaş came through to reach the league phase.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, enter the game having qualified directly for the competition through the Bundesliga. The German club has faced Turkish opposition twice before, both times against İstanbul Başakşehir in the 2017-18 Europa League group stage. That away match in Istanbul finished 1-1, while Hoffenheim won the home fixture 3-1. Thursday's game will be their third meeting with a Turkish side.
Nübel expects a mixed crowd and looks forward to facing Baumann
Beşiktaş goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, who is German, told the broadcaster RTL ahead of the trip that he is curious about the atmosphere in the stadium. He said he wonders whether the ground will feel more like a home game for Hoffenheim or for Beşiktaş.
Nübel said he is looking forward to seeing opposite number Oliver Baumann again and spoke warmly of their friendship. The goalkeeper also said he spends 20 minutes after training working on his Turkish, and admitted he has found Istanbul's traffic hard to get used to, describing it as "crazy."
Three absences for Beşiktaş
Beşiktaş go into the match without three players. Milot Rashica is injured on international duty and is not on the UEFA list. Vaclav Cerny, who could not continue in the Süper Lig match against Kocaelispor last weekend, will also miss out; an MRI showed a strain and swelling in the hamstring of his left thigh. Dusan Vlahovic was left in Istanbul because of a stomach problem.
Beşiktaş's European record in numbers
According to Fanatik, Beşiktaş have played 265 matches in European competition, winning 103, drawing 50 and losing 112. They have scored 360 goals in those games and conceded 397.
Against German clubs, the record is thinner: 14 matches and only two wins. Thursday's fixture is the first time Beşiktaş and Hoffenheim have met.
This season's European run has been productive. In seven Europa League matches, Beşiktaş have won six. They beat Midtjylland 1-0 and 2-0, edged Hradec Kralove 1-0 in both legs, beat Kauno Zalgiris 3-0 before losing the return 1-0, and then defeated Marseille 4-1 in the league-phase opener. Across that sequence they scored 12 goals and conceded two.
What to watch
The result in Sinsheim will shape how comfortable Beşiktaş's path through the league phase looks, and Italiano has already made clear that progress, not seeding, is the measure he cares about. Kickoff is at 22:00 Turkish time on TRT 1.
