Les Phocéens Dismantled in Istanbul: Besiktas vs Marseille UEL Matchday 1 Recap
Another France vs Türkiye duel awaits on the European stage, this time between the qualified teams. In the opening week of the Europa League, Besiktas hosted Olympique de Marseille at the fiery Tupras Stadium atmosphere.
For the first time in 19 years, these two iconic sides of their respective nations ran into each other in the European competitions. Their first and only face-off was back in the 2007/08 Champions League Group Stage, where both teams won one game for each.
Besiktas opened their European account earlier than their opponents, starting from the Second Qualifying Round, and fended off Midtjylland, Hradec Králove and Kauno Žalgiris on aggregate to make it into the League Phase. With the arrival of the manager Vincenzo Italiano, the Black Eagles found an impressive form, losing only twice in 11 outings, and adopted a Gegenpress style of football. Previously, they beat the relegation candidates Erzurumspor 3-0 at home and they’re currently sitting in the second place of the Turkish Super League, only one point behind the reigning champions Galatasaray. After missing out on European football in the previous season, the Turkish side intends to continue their rising form and return to Europa League in style. This match will also be a reunion for Amir Murillo, who joined Besiktas from Marseille in last year’s winter transfer season.
However their job won’t be easy, even against a recently struggling Marseille, who once had a controversial taste of European glory back in the 90s. Les Phocéens finished 5th in Ligue 1 last year and secured themselves a European spot for the UEL. Just like their opponents, Marseille had a change of the man in charge with Bruno Génésio, who has enough experience of facing the Black Eagles back in his Lyon days. But the Phocaeans couldn’t have the same effect that Besiktas had with their new manager so far. The French manager took over a financially struggling team that had to part ways with many crucial players and could bring in only a few new faces, including the current captain Timothy Weah. The club is also showcasing a sinking form, having lost 3 of this season’s 4 games so far, most recently 1-0 against Rennes at the away game. Génésio’s place in the Marseille post is heavily questioned, so both the club and the manager are in need of a positive result, before standing against PSG in the upcoming Ligue 1 weekend. Despite the challenging run, the French side still possessed great experience with players such as Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Nayef Aguerd, also posing swift threats with Igor Paixão and Amine Gouri.
Coming to this game, the hosts are struck with both good and bad news. Besiktas’ Serbian top scorer Dusan Vlahović is back from suspension and is expected to take his place in the starting eleven. But Italiano has recently announced that the team’s most recent goalscorer Leandro Trossard won’t be available due to a small hamstring issue, joining the left-back Ridvan Yilmaz in the injury list. And the French side is missing Kondogbia and Nnadi, which doesn’t make much impact on Génésio’s usual starting eleven, but still limits his midfield rotation options.
So, without further ado, here are the teams’ first elevens ahead of their UEL League Phase opener:
Besiktas XI: Nübel - Murillo - Agbadou - Topcu - Ouattara - Ozcan - Cerny - Olaitan - Kokcu - Fakili - Vlahović
Marseille XI: De Lange - Weah - Egan-Riley - Cornelius - Garcia - Højbjerg - Abdelli - Gomes - Harit - Abdallah - Maupay
First Half
With the loud home atmosphere behind them, Black Eagles take the early momentum. After finding close calls with Fakili and Vlahović, Nübel also manages to parry Abdallah’s first attempt caused by Agbadou’s passing error. Besiktas’ in-form winger Ilhan Fakili opens his European account in the 15th minute, when he plays a swift one-two with Olaitan into the Marseille box and puts the ball into the net with a gentle finish. After the goal however, Besiktas’ pass accuracy drops and the distance between their defence and midfield grows, which allows Marseille to find more ball possession and big spaces in the hosts’ defence. As a result, Les Phocéens’ find the equaliser in the 30th minute with one of their own Keyliane Abdallah. Abdelli sets the winger up running towards a big space in the right side of the Eagles’ defence and he places a tidy finish to the near post. In the closing minutes of the first half, Vlahović takes the conductor role from Orkun Kokcu and sets the Turkish international with a quality pass for a one-on-one against the keeper, but De Lange fends him off with his feet. So, the first half ends with a 1-1 draw.
Second Half
Unlike the first half, the teams head more cautiously into the second one, but Besiktas regain the momentum and in 11 minutes, the lead as well. Orkun Kokcu dribbles with the ball into Marseille’s area and passes to Cerny, who cuts in from right and shoots the ball into the bottom left corner in the 56th minute. Only 3 minutes later, right-back Amir Murillo haunts his former club and puts Kokcu’s corner kick in De Lange’s goal with a header to extend the lead. Black Eagles’ pressure continued with attempts from various players. Fakili’s curled shot hits the crossbar, Kokcu and Vlahović’s long-distance shots get denied by De Lange. However, the Dutch keeper couldn’t prevent getting beaten for the fourth time by a fellow compatriot. After successfully battling with Marseille midfielders, also taking the helping hand of Dusan Vlahović, Junior Olaitan passes towards the runway of subbed-in Ernest Poku, whose first time finishing touch extends Besiktas’ lead to 3. The versatile Dutch winger scores his maiden Besiktas goal in the 81st minute. In the dying minutes of the game, Les Phocéens found dangerous positions with late-sub Gouri and Amine Harit, but Topcu and Djaló managed to prevent them from taking any more goals back. The final whistle blows and Besiktas take a huge 4-1 victory against Marseille.
With this result, Black Eagles made a statement return to European football. Midfielders Junior Olaitan and captain Orkun Kokcu provided two assists for each and became the creative key figures in Besiktas’ win. The explosive winger Ilhan Fakili was also one of the best players on the pitch, scoring the opening goal and constantly finding ways to challenge the Marseille defence. The Turkish-French winger made sure his team didn’t feel the absence of Leandro Trossard. The hosts began with their usual pressure on their opponents and did everything correctly in the first 20 minutes. But the next 15-20 minutes afterwards, they made too many passing errors and left too much space for Les Phocéens, which led to the equaliser. In the second half however, the Eagles completely shook off that phase and with the right touches to the game by Italiano, they took control for the rest of the game. Once again, Emmanuel Agbadou was the one player that couldn’t cope with the Italian manager’s fully-operational machine and the difference after his substitution was visibly clear. This victory also extends Besiktas’ winning streak at home to 7 games and with their passionate fans in mood, that streak may not come to an end in the foreseeable future.
On the other hand, Marseille’s downfall continues in all competitions, as they’re currently in a 4-game losing streak. Despite starting with a rotated squad, Les Phocéens could go toe to toe with the hosts in the first half and responded well after conceding the first goal. They used Besiktas’ weakness against counter-attacks well, especially in that period, when Besiktas fell from the momentum. But apart from their best player on the pitch Abdellah, no one else could pose much threat to the opposition goal and almost the entire team disappeared under the Eagles’ dominance in the second half. This defeat now puts the already under scrutiny Bruno Génésio in a challenging position ahead of the PSG game in the league. The bells may be ringing for the end of the experienced Frenchman’s time at Marseille.
In a nutshell, another exciting matchup between historic French and Turkish sides concluded with a dominant Besiktas win in Istanbul. The Black Eagles will now focus on their last league game before the international break and will return for an away game against Hoffenheim in the matchday 2 of the League Phase. We’ll see if Besiktas can bring their opening performance to their next European fixture.
Article written by Emre Albas © Emre Albas 2026
