Title calculations ahead of Super League's final week


We have finally reached the final week of the Turkish Super League but it is still not crystal clear who is going to win the title.

League leader Galatasaray has a crucial three-point advantage against Fenerbahçe and Başakşehir, and they will be the champions if they can get a single point when they take on sixth-placed Göztepe in the Aegean city of İzmir.

On the other hand, Başakşehir will be the champion if Galatasaray loses and if they win, given they have the advantage in the games they played against Galatasaray.

Fenerbahçe, however, is in the toughest spot, since Başakşehir also holds the advantage against them. So for the Yellow Canaries, a win will not be enough. Both Galatasaray and Başakşehir must lose for Fenerbahçe to become champion.

Nevertheless, Turkish football has witnessed many incredible ends, and surely the final race before the finishing line will not be a walk in the park.

I would like to start analyzing the chances of the teams from the lowest to highest. Fenerbahçe, as the team in the tightest spot, will play Konyaspor which just anchored its position in the fifteenth spot and held on to the Super League by just three points.

The season for coach Sergen Yalçın's team has surely come to an end and it has nothing to lose against title contender Fenerbahçe. Given the game will be played in Fenerbahçe's on home turf, it seems like it is going to be a fairly easy game for Aykut Kocaman's team.

Nonetheless, news coming from the Galatasaray game might affect the course of this game, since early goals by the Lions might demoralize Fenerbahçe. But there is a slightly less important, but still very significant point that many people miss. Fenerbahçe is also competing for a Champions League qualifying spot and if Başakşehir loses points against Kasımpaşa, it will get the tickets. This will also motivate Fenerbahçe players to crush an aimless Konya.

Başakşehir, on the other hand, will face Kasımpaşa, another team with no specific goals but considerably more power than Konya.

Kasımpaşa had a very strange season. It had a number of sensational wins against big teams but suffered weird defeats against weaker ones. It was one of the few teams that managed to beat Galatasaray after Fatih Terim took over.

It may very well surprise Başakşehir regardless of the result coming from the Galatasaray- Göztepe game. Since Başakşehir has to win, it will surely start pressing right from the first whistle, and this will give an opportunity for Kasımpaşa to launch counterattacks, something it excels at. Among the three title contenders, I would say Başakşehir has the toughest job, although it is not in the worst spot in terms of calculations.

Finally, Galatasaray will face the reckless but entertaining Aegean side Göztepe in İzmir. Although Göztepe made a sensational start to the league, it could not keep up with the giants and lost the chance to qualify for Europe.

But for a newly promoted team, its performance was beyond expectations and the club would most probably consider this season as mission accomplished.

Göztepe, however, was poor against the stronger teams. It got only one point from Fenerbahçe in its eight games against the top four.

There is also no doubt that Galatasaray fans will create a great atmosphere in today's game and will be ready for title celebrations. I expect Galatasaray to grab the three points and become the champions, given there is no particular reason to consider Göztepe a serious threat.