Conference League Play-Off Preview: St Patrick’s Athletic -v- Istanbul Basaksehir

Jake Mulraney starred against Sabah last week at Tallaght Stadium

Jake Mulraney starred against Sabah last week at Tallaght Stadium Credit: Matthew Lysaght (ETPhotos)

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

St Patrick’s Athletic host Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir at Tallaght Stadium on Thursday evening in the first-leg of their Conference League Play-Off (kick-off is at 7.45pm).

The Saints will be backed by over 7,000 supporters at the Dublin 24 venue with tickets in the West and East Stand already sold out. 

Only tickets remain in the North Stand for home fans with the game also available to view on Solidsport at a cost of €10. The South Stand has been allocated to away supporters.

St Pat’s head into this tie having already defeated Vaduz of Liechtenstein and Azerbaijani outfit Sabah in the previous rounds of the competition.

And this will be the third time the Saints have played in the play-off round of a European competition having previously lost to Hertha Berlin in 2008 and Steaua Bucharest in 2009. 

"Preparations have gone quite well. The last couple of days has allowed us to prepare well for Thursday,” boss Stephen Kenny told his club’s website.

“This is one of the biggest games in St Patrick's Athletic history, with the chance to get to the group stages.

“Our opponents won the Turkish league a couple of years ago, they beat Manchester United in the Champions League.

“For us to beat them over two legs, we'll have to absolutely give the performance of our lives.



“If we do it, we'll do it the hard way, but we must strive to do that.

European wins are special, none would be more special than this if the players can go and achieve that."

Cian Kavanagh is out for the Saints, while winger Alex Nolan is rated as a doubt.

ISTANBUL BASAKSEHIR 

One-time Turkish Super League champions, Istanbul Basaksehir take on the Saints as red-hot favourites to advance.

The Turks won their domestic league for the first time during the 2019-20 Covid-19 hit season.



That saw them advance to the Champions League proper in the 2020-21 campaign, in which they created history by defeating English Premier League giants Manchester United 2-1 at home.

Since then, they reached the last-16 stage of the Conference League in the 2022-23 season before bowing out against Belgian side Gent 5-2 on aggregate.

But they topped their group during the campaign, most notably beating Fiorentina 3-0 at home.

While the likes of former Premier League strikers Demba Ba and Emmanuel Adebayor have played for them before, they have a new crop of players set to face the Saints.

Current striker Krzysztof Piatek is a Polish international and lined out for his country at Euro 2024. Winger Davidson, 33, is from Brazil and has already scored twice in Conference League qualifying.

Istanbul have also defeated San Marino minnows La Fiorita and Georgians Iberia 1899 to reach this stage of the competition. Their manager is Çağdaş Atan, a two-time Turkish international who has been in charge since 2023.

Referee: Mohammed Al-Emara (Finland). 

 

PREDICTION

St Patrick’s Athletic 1-2 Istanbul Basaksehir 

 

St Patrick’s Athletic

Injured: Cian Kavanagh. 

Doubtful: Alex Nolan.

Suspended: None. 

 

Istanbul Basaksehir

Injured: N/A.

Doubtful: N/A.

Suspended: None.

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