Two of the Turkish Süper Lig's "Big Four," Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş on Thursday will take separate fields with a shared goal: to hoist the Crescent-Star banner high in the early stages of the UEFA Europe Conference League.
Fenerbahçe are gearing up to host Nordsjaelland in the opening match of UEFA Europa Conference League Group H at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex.
The Yellow Canaries embarked on this journey from the second qualifying round, eliminating Zimbru and Maribor in the third qualifying round.
They continued their march by overcoming Twente in the playoff stage, securing their spot in the group stage.
Meanwhile, the Danish side, Nordsjaelland, also earned their place in the group stage by defeating FCSB in the third qualifying round and Partizan in the playoff round.
For Fenerbahçe, this marks their ninth appearance in the UEFA Europa Conference League, which was introduced by the UEFA for the 2021-2022 season.
The last time they reached the round of 16 playoff stage, they faced Slavia Prague.
In this season's qualifiers, Fenerbahçe contested six matches.
Over the course of their eight appearances in the Conference League, they have notched up six victories and two losses, finding the back of the net 25 times while conceding just eight goals.
In total, Fenerbahçe has featured in 260 European matches, with 101 victories, 55 draws and 104 defeats.
During these encounters, the Yellow Canaries have scored 347 goals while conceding 369.
One remarkable stat in Fenerbahçe's favor is their impressive run of not losing a European match in Kadıköy in their last nine outings.
This season, in the Conference League, they have won all three of their home matches, and in the previous season's Europa League, they secured victory in six out of six home games, with one match ending in a draw.
Facing Nordsjaelland for the first time, Fenerbahçe have crossed paths with Danish teams on only two occasions in their history.
In the 2006-2007 season, they squared off against Randers and emerged victorious in both encounters.
Fenerbahçe's season kicked off with a 10-match winning streak, spanning the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds and the Turkish Süper Lig.
They secured victory in all six Conference League qualifiers and notched up four wins in the Süper Lig, amassing 12 points while scoring 29 goals and conceding just five.
The impact of new signings has been pivotal for Fenerbahçe.
Edin Dzeko has been a standout with six goals and five assists during the winning streak, while Sebastian Szymanski has contributed with five goals and four assists.
Dusan Tadic, on the other hand, has added four goals and two assists, totaling six goal contributions.
On the other side, Nordsjaelland are having an impressive season in the Danish Super Liga, with five wins, two draws, and only one loss in their first eight matches.
They sit in third place with 17 points, just two points behind league leaders Copenhagen.
Nordsjaelland boast the highest goal tally in the league, having scored 21 goals so far.
The Eagle lands
In the Conference League Group D Fenerbahçe fellow Istanbulites Beşiktaş will venture into the den of Belgian side Club Brugge, as they aim to extend their remarkable winning streak in European competitions.
The Black Eagles have been on an astonishing run in Europe, securing victory in six consecutive matches.
This remarkable feat was achieved for the first time during the qualifiers of the UEFA Europa Conference League, where Beşiktaş triumphed with a flawless six out of six wins.
This season, Beşiktaş embarked on their European journey from the second qualifying round of Europe's third-tier club competition.
They overcame various obstacles, dispatching Tirana with 3-1 and 2-0 victories, defeating Azerbaijan's Neftçi with scores of 3-1 and 2-1, and triumphing over Dinamo Kyiv 4-2 on aggregate.
The Black Eagles have emerged victorious in all six encounters they have graced so far.
As they prepare to take on Club Brugge in the opening fixture of Group D, they are eager to push their winning streak to an impressive seven games.
To put this in context, the last time Beşiktaş enjoyed such an extensive string of victories in European competitions was during the 2010-2011 season in the UEFA Europa League, where they clinched five consecutive wins.
Their extraordinary run in that campaign began in the third qualifying round with a commanding 3-0 victory over Czechia's Viktoria Plzen.
The momentum continued through the playoff round, where they dispatched Finland's HJK Helsinki with ease, securing aggregate wins of 2-0 and 4-0.
In the group stage, they further showcased their prowess, defeating Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia with a 1-0 score and Austria's Rapid Wien with a 2-1 scoreline.
However, their five-match winning streak in Europe that season was halted with a 3-1 loss to Porto in the group stage.
In the same 2010-2011 season, Beşiktaş reached another milestone by remaining undefeated in European competitions for eight consecutive matches.
During that memorable campaign, under the German tactician Bernd Schuster, Beşiktaş made quite an impression in the UEFA Europa League.
Alas, their streak came to an end in the group stage's third match, where they faced defeat against Porto.
Under Şenol Güneş, Beşiktaş managed an impressive run of seven consecutive unbeaten matches in European competitions.
This streak occurred during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons.
In the 2016-2017 UEFA Europa League, Beşiktaş triumphed 2-1 against Olympique Lyon in the quarterfinal second leg.
However, they were eliminated via penalty shootout, despite the victory.
The 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League campaign saw Beşiktaş progress into the round of 16 as group leaders after securing four wins and two draws in the group stage.
In Europe, they maintained their dominance throughout April 2017 and February 2018, remaining unbeaten in all seven matches.
Unfortunately, their remarkable streak came to an end in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, where they suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat against Bayern Munich.