Turkish strugglers Istanbul Basaksehir host Belgian side Gent on Wednesday evening for the second leg of their Europa Conference League last 16 tie.
Stefano Okaka gave Basaksehir the lead on a swamp of a pitch in Belgium during last week's first leg, but Gent's transformative January arrival Gift Orban equalised before half time, leaving the tie perfectly poised at 1-1.
Match preview
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Basaksehir went unbeaten through their first 16 games of the season across all competitions before losing at home to Sivasspor in October and stumbling into the World Cup break on the back of a 7-0 mauling from Galatasaray.
The Istanbul outfit used the winter rest to regroup but lost the influential centre-back Youssouf Ndayishimiye to Ligue 1's Nice at the end of the January transfer window before earthquakes devastated the region and forced the suspension of the Turkish top flight.
Basaksehir are winless in three matches since returning from the enforced hiatus, slipping behind Trabzonspor and into sixth place.
Former Manchester United prodigy Adnan Januzaj is yet to register a goal or an assist since arriving on loan from Sevilla in February but earned a red card on his second outing for Basaksehir in a dire 2-0 defeat to manager Emre Belozoglu's former employers Besiktas last weekend.
It is safe to say that Gent's transfer business during the winter window has been much more successful; Orban, who scored the equaliser against Basaksehir, spent the first half of the season lighting up the Norwegian second tier with Stabaek and was still an unknown in a Nigerian academy 18 months ago.
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Upon his arrival, Gent's head scout Samuel Cardenas stressed that Orban would have "the necessary patience and time to adapt to our competition" - but there have scarcely been any teething problems with the 20-year-old rattling in nine goals across his first eight appearances, including four against Zulte Waregem on Sunday.
Last weekend's victory ensured that Gent remain very much in the race for a top-four spot in the Belgian first division, sitting just one point behind Club Brugge as the pair duke it out for the final available slot in the first-tier playoffs.
Belozoglu's Basaksehir had to come through two rounds of qualifying to even make it into the Conference League group stage but finished above Serie A's Fiorentina by virtue of a superior head-to-head goal difference to automatically jump into the round of 16.
Gent finished second in their group, which forced Hein Vanhaezebrouck's side into a playoff against Azerbaijan's Qarabag - Orban (who else?) cancelled out Leandro Andrade's first-leg winner to tee up a penalty shootout which the Belgian club edged.
Basaksehir have played in the Champions League group stage as recently as 2020, but the club have never been beyond the round of 16 in UEFA competition, while Gent have only contested one European quarter-final in their history, losing to Louis van Gaal's great Ajax side in the 1992 UEFA Cup.
Team News
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Januzaj may be suspended for Basaksehir's upcoming Turkish Super Lig fixtures after his costly slip against Besiktas, but the 28-year-old will be available for Gent's European visit.
Mesut Ozil has scarcely been spotted during a season dogged by various niggling injuries, while defensive midfielder Eden Karzev is also a doubt after limping off in the first leg against Gent and missing the defeat to Besiktas.
Basaksehir signed eight senior players to their roster during the winter transfer window but only added three of them to their Conference League squad, with centre-back Edgar Ie making the cut alongside Januzaj and Karzev; that leaves as many as five first-team players ineligible for Wednesday's second leg.
Vanhaezebrouck has a raft of injury concerns to juggle, with long-term absentees Tarik Tissoudali (knee) and Andrew Hjulsager (Achilles) regulars in a busy treatment room.
Neither Darko Lemajic (adductor) nor Sulayman Marreh (muscle) has started a game since Halloween, while defenders Joseph Okumu and Bruno Godeau have been nursing respective calf and ankle problems over the last month.
The availability of former Hertha Berlin centre-back Jordan Torunarigha is also clouded in uncertainty after the 25-year-old sat out the previous two matches with a knock.
Istanbul Basaksehir possible starting lineup:
Babacan; Sahiner, Duarte, Touba, Lima; Tekdemir, Aleksic, Ozcan; Januzaj, Okaka, Gurler
Gent possible starting lineup:
Roef; Fortuna, Ngadeu, Piatkowski; Castro-Montes, Kums, De Sart, Fofana; Hong; Cuypers, Orban
We say: Istanbul Basaksehir 0-1 Gent (AET, Gent win 2-1 on aggregate)
Despite the even final scoreline, Gent had plenty of chances to come into the second leg with an advantage from the mud-soaked tie in Belgium.
Basaksehir may have the bonus of home advantage, but if Gent can be slightly more ruthless, they should come out on top in what may well be a tight tie that goes to extra time.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Grey Whitebloom
