Unbeaten in Istanbul, Beşiktaş to take on Brugge with support of record crowd

The UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg match between Beşiktaş and Belgian team Club Brugge will kick off today at Atatürk Olympic Stadium at 22:05 local time. Michel Preud'homme's men maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament with a 2-1 first-leg win at the Jan Breydelstadion last week, Tom De Sutter and Lior Rafaelov canceling out Gökhan Töre's opener. It leaves Beşiktaş needing to achieve what no side has managed in the Europa League this term, although their unbeaten home record in European competition this season will instill confidence of gaining the win required. Besides, the Turkish powerhouses are delighted with all the tickets sold ahead of the match. Beşiktaş have released a statement confirming that tickets for the Europa League second-leg game against Club Brugge have sold out. Beşiktaş's Chairman Fikret Orman spoke confidently ahead of the clash and said, "Our fans will win Thursday night. If all the fans who bought tickets come to the match it is expected that Beşiktaş will break the record of largest crowd in UEFA Europa League history." UEFA had previously announced that the crowd of 63,324 that watched Beşiktaş knock out Liverpool 6-4 on penalties on Feb. 26 at the Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadium was the highest in UEFA Europa League history. But later UEFA said it made a mistake and a crowd of 63,324 was the second highest number.The crowd number has already surpassed the one in the Beşiktaş-Liverpool match. Beşiktaş club officials estimated that nearly 70,000 fans will come to the match. If they all come, they will break the crowd record set in the match played on Feb. 23, 2012 between Manchester United and Ajax. Some 67,328 spectators watched that match. The Black Eagles have to win tonight. They need a 1-0 win to extend the match or lopsided victories such as 3-1, 4-2 etc. They will take solace from the fact they also lost the first leg against Liverpool in the Round of 32 but managed to win the tie in Istanbul. The Black Eagles are unbeaten in European competition this season in Istanbul, including games against Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. The defeat was the Eagles' first against Belgium opposition in Europe. Beşiktaş are playing at the Atatürk Olympic temporarily as the Inönü Stadium is currently being rebuilt. The new Beşiktaş stadium will have a 41,903 capacity and will be renamed the Vodafone Arena. While Brugge are already in unchartered territory, having failed to reach the last 16 since the creation of group stages in the competition, Beşiktaş are looking to emulate their efforts of 2002-03. In the Uefa Cup, the Turkish club reached the quarter-finals that year before losing to Lazio on away goals.