Bursa or Antep? Rat race for 3rd place comes down to wire |
 Kasımpaşa, Konyaspor and Bucaspor have all been relegated to the Bank Asya League 1 (second division), and the two-horse Spor Toto Super League championship race between Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor will be settled after their respective matches in the season’s finale on Sunday.
What now has to be settled is who finishes third and fourth, in what has become a rat race between defending champion Bursaspor [16-10-17] and southeastern representative Gaziantepspor [17-7-9]. The two teams have 58 points apiece going into their home matches this evening, but Bursaspor has a better head-to-head record and therefore is in pole position.
Both matches will start at 8 p.m. with the Bursaspor-Gençlerbirliği game to be refereed by Süleyman Abay and the Gaziantepspor-Beşiktaş by Barış Şimşek. The Bursa Green Crocs, on paper, have a relatively easier task against Ankara’s Gençlerbirliği in week 34 today -- the last match of the 2010-11 Spor Toto Super League season.
Gaziantepspor faces a more difficult task against upbeat Turkish Cup winner Beşiktaş. Moreover for Gaziantepspor, it is going to be grudge game because it was the Beşiktaş Black Eagles who sent them packing 5-3 (3-0, 2-3) in the semifinals of the cup.
Both Bursaspor and Gaziantepspor have qualified for the Europa League qualifiers next season and Beşiktaş, as the cup holder, will start from the group stage of the competition.
The issue of third and fourth is of paramount importance to the teams concerned because the third-place finisher will play less qualifying matches, meaning it will start the season several weeks late. This issue will be settled this evening, thus giving Bursaspor and Gaziantepspor ample time to plan ahead for next season.
After the curtain finally falls on the league season today, young Bursaspor coach Ertuğrul Sağlam, whose men took the Super League by storm last season on their way to winning the title, will have plenty of soul-searching to do in order to find out what on earth went wrong in 2010-11.
Eagles fans want more
The millions of euros paid to acquire Portugal playmaker Ricardo Quaresma in preseason and his compatriots Simao Sabrosa, Hugo Almeida and Manuel Fernandes during the January transfer window would have gone down the drain if the Eagles had not won the cup and earned a berth in Europe next season.
It was their first season, and so their football sins may have been forgotten by the demanding fans. But these Portuguese now know that their current club is one where finishing second is equal to finishing second from bottom and so nothing other than the league championship is considered a success.
With stand-in coach Tayfur Havutçu now officially acquired on a two-year deal plus a one-year option, the Eagles will have plenty of time to offload the undesirables, bring in the desirables and get well prepared for next season.
Gaziantepspor will also have to upgrade its current squad. This team can finish fourth in the domestic Super League, but it needs plenty of fresh blood to be able to make headway in Europe.
Ankaragücü hosts Medical Park Antalyaspor, and doomed Bucaspor takes on Kayserispor in the other season-ending matches today. Both games start at 4 p.m.
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