The Turkish Süper Lig powerhouse Fenerbahçe will be looking to grab an early advantage on Thursday night in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 ties against La Liga's embattled Sevilla.
Having cruised through Group B and securing automatic qualification into the round of 16, the Yellow Canaries will set out to conquer the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium and assert their dominance in the tournament.
In 2008, Fenerbahçe faced off against Sevilla in the last 16 rounds of the Champions League. The Yellow Canaries emerged triumphant, eliminating their Spanish opponents and making their mark in the quarterfinals.
Sevilla, the giants in the Europa League with a record-breaking six trophies, concluded their Champions League Group G campaign in third place alongside Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, and Copenhagen and are now firmly focused on the UEFA Europa League.
Having locked horns with the Netherlands' PSV Eindhoven squad in the playoff round, Sevilla emerged triumphant, thereby becoming Fenerbahçe's opponents, even though they had suffered a twin defeat, 3-0 at home and 2-0 away.
The Istanbul-based powerhouse Fenerbahçe emerged triumphant from UEFA Europa League Group B, which featured Rennes, Dynamo Kyiv, and AEK Larnaca, with a record of 14 points from 4 wins and two draws in 6 matches.
On the European stage, Fenerbahçe will make their highly anticipated return four months after a 2-0 away victory against Dynamo Kyiv on Nov. 3, 2022.
As they look to progress to the quarterfinals of the Europa League, the Yellow-Navy blue side will be eager to eliminate their opponent during the second leg match at their home stadium in Istanbul on March 16.
Despite their strength, Fenerbahçe will be left in a precarious position as Luan Peres, still nursing an injury, will not be available for the Sevilla match.
Gustavo Henrique, Ezgjan Alioski, and Serdar Dursun, whose names have remained unreported to UEFA, will not be among those included in the Yellow Canaries' squad.
Jayden Oosterwolde and Samet Akaydın, two winter transfers to Fenerbahçe, will have the opportunity to don the iconic yellow-dark-blue jersey and represent the club in the European League for the first time if given a chance.
The Istanbul side has had a European descent run though not satisfactory, having won 94 times, drawing 55 times, and losing 103 from 252 matches.
Unfortunately, the Yellow Canaries have notched a whopping 325 goals but have conceded 365 times.