Dhe congratulations from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came promptly – in times of Corona without shaking hands, but via Twitter: Erdogan’s favorite club Basaksehir Istanbul is the Turkish football champion for the first time. “I congratulate the Super League Cemil Master Season Champion 2019-20 @ ibfk2014 Medipol Basaksehir Football Club and his supporters,” wrote the 66-year-old on Sunday evening, while thousands of fans cheered the premiere with beacons and rockets in front of the stadium.
With a 1: 0 (1: 0) against Kayserispor on the penultimate matchday, coach Okan Buruk’s team with 69 points can no longer be pushed out of the top because pursuer Trabzonspor lost 3: 4 against Konyaspor. The Süper Lig had continued its interrupted season due to the corona pandemic on June 12th.
30 years after the club was founded in 1990 and six years after the rise, Basaksehir secured his first title. For the first time since 2010 the master was not called Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe or Besiktas Istanbul. Since the establishment of the Süper Lig in 1959, Basaksehir has been the only sixth club to win championships.
Basaksehir had been close to winning the championship for the past three years. Now it finally worked. “A revolutionary success story has been written in Turkish football. We will continue our journey with the same faith and the same emotion, ”said club boss Göksel Gümüsdag.
Mahmut scored the winner in the 19th minute. The master team includes the former Brazilian star Robinho as well as the former Bundesliga professionals Eljero Elia, Demba Ba and Junior Caicara. The celebrations on the lawn had to wait a bit because there was a long game break due to a power cut.
The architect of success is coach Okan Buruk (46), who is now one of the few to become a Turkish champion as a player and coach. The 34-year-old veteran Mehmet Topal is the first player to win the title in the Süper Lig with three different teams.
This season, the team played in the Europa League in a group with Borussia Mönchengladbach and moved into the knockout stage. Basaksehir’s 1-0 lead in the second leg of the round of 16 on 5 August against FC Copenhagen.
But the team is considered to be old and is about to change. Almost ten contracts, including those from Topal, Robinho and Eljero Elia, expire on August 6. In addition, according to Turkish media, top performer Irfan Can Kahveci (25) is about to jump into one of the top European leagues.
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