Attend a Besiktas match in Istanbul (Turkey)

To buy tickets for a Besiktas match, you absolutely must have a Passolig card. I wrote a detailed article on the subject here: how to get a Passolig card.

The day after my first soccer experience in Turkey (with a Galatasaray match), it is this time at a Besiktas match that I will attend. The Istanbul club is playing against Kayserispor

The match takes place at Vodafone Park, a recently inaugurated venue that opened in 2016 and can accommodate 41,900 people

I walk to the stadium since it is only 20 minutes from our Airbnb

No particular difficulty to find my entrance. Like the day before, I have to present my Passolig twice and I also undergo a triple search. The searches are always quite symbolic but this time the pen that I always have in my pocket goes through the trapdoor

I discover the stadium which I find very impressive, it is magnificent. In the bays, we even have a beautiful view on the lawn thanks to large bay windows. This stadium is magnificent!

I’m in the surroundingss again and this time I didn’t make a mistake, I chose the corner with the best atmosphere. I’m even just behind the nets, 5 meters from the capo. (Block 108 for those who may be interested, price of the place: 100 TL)

 

If Besiktas finished only 4th in the last championship (behind 3 other clubs in Istanbul!) it probably has the best squad. It is moreover the only Turkish team to have qualified for the Europa League this year

A few big names are titular this evening

Loris Karius, on loan from Liverpool keeps the cages. He is sadly famous for his two big balls in the last final of the Champions League

Pepe, who played 10 years at Real Madrid and Vida, who just won the World Cup, make up the central defense. They will be very solid throughout the game

Quaresma, the Portuguese winger, the public’s favourite, impressed me during the warm-up. What a technique! This player could have had an incredible career with better behavior

The game is starting and I like Besiktas’ level of play much more than that of Galatasaray the day before. Canadian midfielder Hutchinson (whom I didn’t know) impressed me and raked in countless balls

On the grandstand side, well… I’m disappointed again! The stadium isn’t full either, 27 900 spectators for a capacity of 41 900. For the moment I’m in the middle of it and apart from a hard core of a few dozen supporters, it’s still quite quiet. There are a few grunts to yell at those who don’t sing. For my part, I may be well motivated and clap my hands, but I don’t know how to sing in Turkish: D

There are indeed some impressive moments: at the beginning of each half, the famous war cry of Besiktas where the stadium is silent before singing in the heart. When the stands challenge each other as to who will sing the loudest in response, or when the whole stadium turns on its telephone light for a nice visual effect

A small preview of the atmosphere in this video

But on the whole, it’s quite far from what I had in mind about the atmosphere in the stands in Istanbul. Even the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes where I was 15 days ago for the PSG – Saint-Etienne match (4 – 0) seemed better to me

Kayserispor will resist as he can by playing mainly on the counter but Besiktas will not have too much difficulty in winning 2 – 0, goals from Vagner Love and Quaresma

The resolution of the video isn’t very good, otherwise you would see me on the slow motion of 2nd base 🙂