2023-12-14 23:26:15
Urs Lindt/freshfocus
It was a spectacular first leg at the beginning of October when Lugano was able to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win away from home against Besiktas Istanbul in the Conference League. The second leg on Thursday evening in Zurich’s Letzigrund was less attractive – unsurprising, as there was nothing left between the two teams. For both Lugano and Besiktas it was already clear at kick-off that it would be the last Conference League game of the season. After all: around 5,000 loud Besiktas supporters created a small Istanbul home game atmosphere. But the spark didn’t really fly on the field. Both teams had chances, but there weren’t enough from the Ticino team over the 90 minutes. It was Turkish striker Cenk Tosun who gave Besiktas the lead in the first half.
His teammate Semih Kilicsoy came to Lugano goalie Saipi’s goal completely alone in the second half – but shot wide of the goal. The Turks then took the lead and there was a flood of cards totaling seven yellow cards in Letzigrund. In the final quarter of an hour, Lugano launched another final offensive – but it was Besiktas, in the person of Daniel Amartey, who increased the score to 2-0. At the end there was an unpleasant pack formation between players and staff. Renato Steffen and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both received red cards. Lugano thus said goodbye to this year’s Conference League adventure as bottom of the table.
The Besiktas fans were looking forward to the game in Zurich
20 Minute
1702606921
#Lugano #Besiktas #Renato #Steffen #receives #red #Lugano #loses