ANKARA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's Galatasaray and Fenerbahce seek good starts to the Europa League as the two Istanbul giants on Thursday play their first games in the newly built competition, the local Daily News reported.
Galatasaray visits Greece's Panathinaikos, while Fenerbahce welcomes Dutch side FC Twente in the competition that replaces the UEFA Cup.
Coach Frank Rijkaard believed that Panathinaikos would be his side's most important opponent in the Group F, which also has Sturm Graz of Austria and Dynamo Bucharest of Romania.
"When we look at all three teams, Panathinaikos looks the most difficult on paper," said Rijkaard, "but that is only on paper. You can never know how many points you will get from which game, but we have to get points."
Galatasaray is on an 11-game unbeaten streak, meaning that Rijkaard has yet to experience a loss as the Lions coach. German coach Christoph Daum has a similar run at Fenerbahce this season, saying that he wants his team to start the Europa League successfully as well.
"We want to start the Europa League just as we did in the Turkcell Super League," said the German to Tureky's FB TV, "Twente is a good team but we want to press hard and force its players to make errors."
Fenerbahce will try to make its way to the elimination rounds from the Group H that also has Romania's Steaua Bucharest and Sheriff of Moldavia.
没有评论:
发表评论