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Why Turkish clubs are Struggling in the European Elite Competition

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Turkish clubs have been struggling to even qualify in European competition, including the Champions League.

Turkish clubs were once known as the fiercest dark horse in Europe. The likes of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, and Besiktas in turn made the European elite sides difficult from the 1990s to early 2010s. Unfortunately, things have gone downward ever since. They are struggling to even qualify for the Champions League group stage. 

Last week, Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce failed to go through the playoff round after losing 3-2 to Lille on aggregate. This week, Galatasaray is taking on BSC Young Boys in the Champions League playoff stage. They are expected to seal one berth in the preliminary round, which will be held in a new format this season. However, Okan Buruk’s side could still stumble and fail to progress too, judging from their dismal form in the Turkish Super Cup. They were hapless and slumped to a heavy loss of 5-0 against Besiktas. 

So, why are Turkish clubs still struggling in Europe despite having a pool of talents and top names in the squad and in the dugout with the likes of Jose Mourinho this year? The answers might not be as simple as expected.

Still Relying on Veterans Stars 

The Turkish Super Lig has a reputation as the retirement home in European football for a while. Relying on top names who would still request high salaries might work in the short term but not for long ones. Those stars who switch sides are no longer the top names they once were. 

This season, the likes of Edin Dzeko, who is already 38 years old, the former Manchester United man Fred (31 years old), and Serbian international Dusan Tadic (35) have been unable to help Fenerbahce beat Lille, which counts on younger players. So did Hakim Ziyech (31), Dries Mertens (37) and Winfred Zaha (31) for Galatasaray in the UCL group stage last season when they were unable to defeat FC Copenhagen, which had much younger talents in the squad.

Only Mauro Icardi (Galatasaray) and Ciro Immobile (Besiktas) might still be in fairly peak form despite the fact that they no longer compete in the elite leagues. No wonder that more and more Turkish clubs have begun to change their strategy in the transfer window in the past few years. They sign more players from the top five competitions but still below 30 years of age and fewer veterans. 

Today’s football demands more pace, physical fitness and athleticism which would be more in favour of the younger talents. The veteran stars might only be worth as a super sub or the skipper in the team.

Political Interference 

Politics has been one crucial factor to blame for Turkish football's decline. Its interference in the club management has been running deep, which eventually led to more issues. 

Football club management has been flooded by the politicians to gain more control over the public and access for their political careers. Professionalism has been replaced by political games. Since the era of Recep Erdogan’s administration, a number of cases have slowly brought Turkish football into its downfall. The match fixing scandal in 2011 was one involving Fenerbahce's and Besiktas’ high-profile names in the club's management. The introduction of the Passolig card in 2014 was another. The card is integrated into the football ticketing system. Yet, it has been touted as the government’s attempt to prevent hooliganism plus, and most importantly, take control of the people as it gives access to their personal data. 

At first, such led to the huge protest from the fans back in the mid-2010s, but then it faded. As a result, most people today opt not to come to the stadium to support their teams directly any longer. No wonder that the number of spectators has decreased from a minimum of 40,000 fans before the Passolig card system to 3,000 people only on average.

Financial Mismanagement 

Financial mismanagement is probably the most prominent one. Most Turkish clubs, which are led by politicians, unfortunately count on government loans to run the team. They signed veteran stars with huge wages but no longer proved effective. They mainly have failed to lead the team to success. 

The introduction of UEFA Financial Fair Play has forced the Turkish Football Federation to come up with their own spending caps policy for the 2021/22 season. Such was announced to avoid clubs spending too much on signing foreign veterans with massive wages. It also restructures the club's management by investing more in their academy. Turkish sides have the ability to produce world-class talents who can be sold to the elite teams. The emergence of Arda Guler, Kenan Yildiz, both 19 years old, and Ridvan Yilmaz, who gained interest from the top sides, are the most recent examples. They moved to Real Madrid, Juventus, and Glasgow Rangers, respectively, to improve their skills and level of performance. Consequently, they left their parent club at the early age.

List of Turkish clubs’ best performance in each season since their first entry in European top tier competition (European Cup and UCL) in 1956/57 season:

Season

Best team to progress

Furthest stage

Matches (results on aggregate)

1956/57

Galatasaray

Preliminary round

vs Dinamo Bucharest 3-4

1957/58

-

-

 

1958/59

Besiktas

First round

vs Real Madrid 1-3

1959/60

Fenerbahce

Preliminary round

vs Nice 4-8

1960/61

Besiktas

Preliminary round

vs Rapid Wina 1-4

1961/62

Fenerbahce

First round

vs Nuremberg 1-3

1962/63

Galatasaray

Quarterfinals

vs Polonia Bytom 4-2 (1st round)

vs AC Milan 1-8

1963/64

Galatasaray

First round

vs Zurich 2-2 (losing on coin toss)

1964/65

Fenerbahce

Preliminary round

vs DWS 1-4

1965/66

Fenerbahce

Preliminary round

vs Anderlecht 1-5

1966/67

Besiktas

First round

vs Ajax 1-4

1967/68

Besiktas

First round

vs Rapid Wina 0-4

1968/69

Fenerbahce

Second round

vs Manchester City 2-1 (1st round)

vs Ajax 0-4

1969/70

Galatasaray

Quarterfinals

vs Waterford 5-2 (1st round)

vs Spartak Tvarna 1-1 (2nd round - win by coin toss)

vs Legia Warsawa 1-3

1970/71

Fenerbahce

First round

vs Carl Zeiss Jena 0-5

1971/72

Galatasaray

First round

vs CSKA Moscow 1-5

1972/73

Galatasaray

First round

vs Bayern 1-7

1973/74

Galatasaray

First round

vs Atletico Madrid 0-1 (a.e.t)

1974/75

Fenerbahce

Second round

Vs Jeunesse Ech 5-2 (1st round)

vs Ruch Chorzow 1-4

1975/76

Fenerbahce

First round

vs Benfica 1-7

1976/77

Trabzonspor

Second round

vs IA 6-3 (1st round)

vs Liverpool 1-3

1977/78

Trabzonspor

First round

vs Boldklubben 1903 1-2

1978/79

Fenerbahce

First round

vs PSV Eindhoven 3-7

1979/80

Trabzonspor

First round

vs Hadjuk Split 0-2

1980/81

Trabzonspor

First round

vs Szombierki Bytom 2-4

1981/82

Trabzonspor

First round

vs Dynamo Kiev 1-2

1982/83

Besiktas

First round

vs Aston Villa 1-3

1983/84

Fenerbahce

First round

vs Bohemians Prague 0-5

1984/85

Trabzonspor

First round

vs Dnipro 1-3

1985/86

Fenerbahce

Second round

vs Bordeuax 3-2 (1st round)

vs IFK Goteborg 2-5

1986/87

Besiktas

Quarterfinal

vs Dinamo Tirana 3-0 (1st round)

vs APOEL (2nd round - winning w/o as APOEL withdrew from the competition due to political reason)

vs Dynamo Kiev 0-7

1987/88

Galatasaray

First round

vs PSV Eindhoven 2-3

1988/89

Galatasaray

Semifinals

vs Rapid Wien 3-2 (1st round)

vs Neuchatel Xamax 5-3 (2nd round)

vs Monaco 2-1 (quarterfinal)

vs Steaua Bucharest 1-5

1989/90

Fenerbahce

First round

vs Sparta Prague 2-5

1990/91

Besiktas

First round

vs FC Malmoe 4-5

1991/92

Besiktas

First round

vs PSV Eindhoven 2-3

1992/93

Besiktas

First round

vs IFK Goteborg 2-3

1993/94

Galatasaray

Final group stage (4th place)

vs Cork City 3-1 (1st round)

vs Manchester United 3-3 (away goal rule – 2nd round)

Group stage final standings:

1.Barcelona (10 pts)

2.Monaco (7 pts)

3.Spartak Moscow (5 pts)

4.Galatasaray (2 pts)

1994/95

Galatasaray

Group stage (4th place)

 

1995/96

Besiktas

Playoff round

vs Rosenborg 3-4

1996/97

Fenerbahce

Group stage (3rd place)

 

1997/98

Besiktas

Group stage (3rd place)

 

1998/99

Galatasaray

Group stage (2nd place but failed to progress as they were not one of the best runners-up)

 

1999/00

Galatasaray

First group stage (3rd place)

 

2000/01

Galatasaray

Quarterfinals

First group stage (2nd place below Strum Graz and eliminated Glasgow Rangers and Monaco)

Second group stage (2nd place below Deportivo La Coruna and eliminated AC Milan and PSG)

vs Real Madrid 3-5

2001/02

Galatasaray

Second group stage (4th place)

First group stage (2nd place below Nantes and eliminated PSV Eindhoven and Lazio)

Second group stage (4th place under Barcelona, Livepool and AS Roma)

2002/03

Galatasaray

First group stage (4th place)

 

2003/04

Galatasaray

Besiktas

Both in group stage (3rd place)

 

2004/05

Fenerbahce

Group stage (3rd place)

 

2005/06

Fenerbahce

Group stage (4th place)

 

2006/07

Galatasaray

Group stage (4th place)

 

2007/08

Fenerbahce

Quarterfinals

Group stage (2nd place below Inter Milan and eliminated PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow)

vs Sevilla 5-5 (3-2 on penalties) (round of 16)

vs Chelsea 2-3

2008/09

Fenerbahce

Group stage (4th place)

 

2009/10

Besiktas

Group stage (4th place)

 

2010/11

Bursaspor

Group stage (4th place)

 

2011/12

Trabzonspor

Group stage (3rd place)

 

2012/13

Galatasaray

Quarterfinals

Group stage (2nd place below Manchester United and eliminated CFR Cluj and Sporting Braga)

vs Schalke 4-3 (round of 16)

vs Real Madrid 3-5

2013/14

Galatasaray

Round of 16

Group stage (2nd place below Real Madrid and eliminated Juventus & FC Copenhagen)

vs Chelsea 1-3

2014/15

Galataasaray

Group stage (4th place)

 

2015/16

Galatasaray

Group stage (3rd  place)

 

2016/17

Besiktas

Group stage (3rd  place)

 

2017/18

Besiktas

Round of 16

Group stage (1st place above Porto, RB Leipzig and Monaco)

vs Bayern 1-8

2018/19

Galatasaray

Group stage (3rd  place)

 

2019/20

Galatasaray

Group stage (4th place)

 

2020/21

Istanbul Basaksehir

Group stage (4th place)

 

2021/22

Besiktas

Group stage (4th place)

 

2022/23

Trabzonspor

Playoff round

vs FC Copenhagen 1-2

2023/24

Galatasaray

Group stage (3rd  place)

 

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