Fresh off clinching their first domestic league title, Istanbul Basaksehir take a 1-0 aggregate lead to Denmark for the return leg of their Europa League last-16 tie with Copenhagen. A late penalty from Edin Visca in the first leg back in March was enough to give the Turkish side an advantage and now after a longer wait than anticipated they will be looking to seal passage to the quarter-finals where a tie versus Manchester United (5) or LASK Linz (0) awaits.
FC Copenhagen recently relinquished their Danish Superliga title but have won their last two games with their domestic season finishing less than a fortnight ago. The hosts have won three of their six matches at Telia Parken since the season resumed but have won just one of their four matches when hosting in the Europa League so far this season. They will have to overturn a one-goal deficit if they are to reach their first quarter-final in European competition but they haven’t scored more than once in eight of their nine games so far in this campaign.
As for Istanbul they have had to redirect their attention to their European adventure having just been crowned Turkish Super Lig champions for the first time. Basaksehir won five of their eight matches as the season restarted to capture the title. They will be aiming to defend their lead when they travel to the Danish capital but a 3-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon in their last away match in Europe will be cause for concern. On the road they have been inconsistent in this competition with two impressive wins, one over Borussia Monchengladbach while losing 4-0 to Roma and 3-1 to Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their Round of 32 tie.
Ultimately, I think the one-goal advantage for Istanbul will be telling but Copenhagen won’t go down without a fight I do fancy them to score at least one goal. The visitors may have switched off in the closing games after sealing the title but in their last two away games they have conceded seven goals and that is a bad habit to get into. However, they do tend to score on the road themselves and have scored in each of their last three Europa League away matches so I’m tipping both teams to score in this match.