Black Eagles take on Feyenoord in Champions League qualifiers

Hoping to return to Champions League football after five years of absence, Turkish Super League side Beşiktaş starts the third qualifying round with a game against Feyenoord in Rotterdam tonight Beşiktaş plays against Feyenoord in the Champions League third qualifying round tonight, in a bid to return to the  top-level European club competition for the first time in five years.

The Black Eagles visit the Rotterdam side in the first leg, hoping to get a good result before next week’s return game at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

Slaven Bilic’s men finished the Turkish league on third spot last season, but were given a berth in the qualifying thanks to a UEFA ban on Fenerbahçe, the Super League champion.

Another Turkish team, Galatasaray, has won automatic qualification to the Champions League after finishing the Super League on second spot.

Zenit Saint Petersburg, Panathinaikos, Feyenoord, Lille and Celtic are among the 13 sides joining the competition in the third qualifying phase.

Even if it manages to advance to the next round, the road to the Champions League is still rocky for Beşiktaş, since five more clubs, including Premier League side Arsenal, two-time former winners Porto, Napoli, Athletic Bilbao and Bayer Leverkusen, will enter in the subsequent play-off round with the victors of those 10 ties advancing to the group stage.

Beşiktaş has last played in the Champions League in the 2009-2010 campaign, after winning the Spor Toto Super League.

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