How to watch: The Turkish Süper Lig Title Chase
Galatasaray could have one hand on the trophy if Fenerbahce slip up in a demolition derby at Besiktas.
A victory for Besiktas over Fenerbahce in Saturday's Istanbul Derby on beIN SPORTS could feel bittersweet for the fans of the Black Eagles. Three points will certainly keep Besiktas in the hunt for a place in the Europa League qualifiers. However, it could all but hand the Super Lig title to Galatasaray, their other city rivals that hold a four-point lead over Fenerbahce with five matches to play.
For context, Besiktas are an incredible 39 points away from Galatasaray at the top of the standings, in a season where their two city rivals have had to reach near perfection on the football field to keep up with each other. Both Fenerbahce and Galatasaray have only lost one Super Lig match each in the current campaign. The current points difference between the two teams stems from Galatasaray drawing just three games as opposed to Fenerbahce's five. Both clubs have scored 164 goals between them to produce a combined goal difference of 113.
The margins are so fine across the board that even the top scorer chart is shared with Edin Dzeko (Fenerbahce) and Mauro Icardi (Galatasaray) tied on twenty goals each.
The Super Lig title race is now down to who blinks first. Fenerbahce lost that challenge on Monday when an injury-time penalty gave Sivasspor a 2-2 draw to further fuel the constant conspiracy theories from Fenerbahce that the league's institutions are working against them. It's a theory that even produced a mass vote from supporters to decide on whether to leave the Super Lig altogether.
The upcoming match day in the Super Lig could be definitive. Galatasaray will feel confident over overcoming mid-table Adana Demirspor in Friday's match-up. This will open up a seven-point gap over Fenerbahce, who will go into Saturday's demolition derby knowing that the title is very much on the line and only a win will do.
