On 14 December, one of the matches of the Conference Football League took place. Lugano (Switzerland) and Besiktas (Istanbul) met.
Conference League
Lugano (Switzerland) - Besiktas (Istanbul ) - 0:2 (0:1)
Goals: C. Tosun (36), D. Amartey (88)
Warnings: J. Muleka (10), D. E. Tiknaz (63). E. Tiknaz (63), J. Espinoza (73), M. E. Hekimoglu (75), . Bulut (75), A. Hajdari (76), Zainutdinov (80)
FC Lugano hosted Besiktas in an exciting match at the Letzigrund Stadium. The atmosphere in the hall was tense as fans of both teams were eager to see their teams play in this UEFA Europa League clash. The first half started with high intensity as both teams were keen to prove their superiority early on. Besiktas started brightly and showed their attacking intentions from the first minutes. The deadlock was finally broken in the 36th minute when Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun struck a header to give his team a 1-0 lead. The second half started with both teams making substitutions to freshen up their squads. FC Lugano released M. Hajj instead of S. Vladi, while Besiktas replaced striker Tosun with S. Kilicoy. Kilicoy. These changes energised the game and both teams started to strive for the decisive second goal. In the 61st minute, Beşiktaş made two more substitutions: S. Ucan and J. Muleka came on in place of D. E. Tiknaz and M. E. Hekimoglu respectively.
However, just two minutes later, Tiknaz received a yellow card, adding a tense moment to the game. The match continued to be fiercely contested, with both sides receiving a flurry of yellow cards. The referee issued warnings to Lugano players H. Espinoza and A. Hazdari, as well as Besiktas players M. E. Hekimoglu and O. Bulut. In the 70th minute, Lugano made two more substitutions, replacing H. Espinoza and R. Maciek with A. Arigoni and J. Sabat. Arigoni and J. Sabbatini. Despite their best efforts, Besiktas struck again in the 88th minute. S. E. Terzi doubled Besiktas' lead and put the game out of reach for Lugano. However, the last minutes of the game were not without incident, with both teams having a player sent off. A. Oxlade-Chamberlain received a red card for Besiktas and R. Steffen for Lugano. The final whistle signalled a deserved victory for Besiktas with an impressive 2-0 scoreline. The match showed the determination and fighting spirit of both teams. FC Lugano fought valiantly but in the end were unable to pull off a win against a strong and clinical Besiktas. Both teams now look forward to their next UEFA Europa Conference League match, hoping to consolidate their achievements in this intriguing encounter at the Letzigrund Stadium.
| Lugano | Besiktas | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Kicks to the goal | 5 |
| 23 | Kicks | 13 |
| 13 | Blocked shots | 2 |
| 12 | Penalty kicks | 9 |
| 11 | Kicks from outside the penalty box | 4 |
| 9 | Offences | 15 |
| 5 | Corners | 5 |
| 1 | Offsides | 2 |
| 56% | Ball possession | 44% |
| 2 | Yellow cards | 5 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
| 4 | Keeper saves | 5 |
| 479 | Total assists | 385 |
| 426 | Accurate assists | 331 |
| 89% | Accuracy of passes | 86% |