Conference League Quali, 3rd round, first leg, Thursday, 08.08.2024 at 18:00
It’s one of those games where only one team can win, and the odds are distributed accordingly. I will therefore tell you in my Iberia 1999 Basaksehir tip why I am thinking defensively and have an under 3.5 goals in mind
The year is 1999 and a new club is founded in Georgia. On August 20, FC Saburtalo Tbilisi was founded, which six years later became Iberia 1999 following the purchase of the Iberia Business Group, and the club has officially borne this name since 2024.
The club became Georgian champions in 2018 and Iberia lifted the trophy in 2023. Success in Europe? They could only have been achieved in the very recent past, but were there any at all?
In the 2019/20 season, there was the biggest “success” to report, a 3rd round in the Europa League qualifiers. 2:1 and 0:2 against Ararat-Armenia, the Georgians were unable to prevail.
Now the team has another chance to advance to the European play-offs. Basaksehir is, of course, an opponent that appears to be much stronger at first and second glance
The 2024/25 European adventure began in the second round, with FK Partizani facing Iberia, who were actually slightly favored. Tbilisi made the most of the first leg at home, going 2:0 ahead.
In the second match, the team concentrated on strengthening its defense. The 0:0 was easily enough to progress. In any case, the team has been in rhythm for months, which is the difference to Basaksehir
The league has been running in Georgia since the beginning of March, so what does it matter that five of the last six games have been lost? Admittedly, it could well be that Iberia are focusing on Conference League qualification right now.
Of course, I also take a look at the squad and quickly realize that if you’re looking for stars or big names, you’re looking in vain. No player is worth more than 450,000 euros and there are very few legionnaires.
In the end, the team has to come through passion and team spirit; individually, it will fall short of most opponents. Even against Basaksehir? The odds answer this question with a clear “yes.”
On average, odds of 7.70 to 1.35 are due for a win on Thursday. At Betano you can also bet on who will progress in the end. 10.30 to 1.03, here the tendency is even clearer.
You can also take advantage of the Betano welcome bonus at this bookmaker. However, Basaksehir must not take the match lightly, despite being the heavy favorites
Especially because the Turks are just starting this season and have hardly any competitive experience. No key players have left, which is positive news.
However, only three new players were brought in and hardly any money was spent. Jerome Opoku, Ousseynou Ba and Matchoi Djalo have joined the squad, so Basaksehir should at least be well-rehearsed.
While the Süper Lig starts next week, there have already been at least two appearances in the Conference League Quali. The Turks had no problems at all against La Fiorita, winning easily
6:1 in the first leg, 4:0 in game number two, the fans thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Krzysztof Piatek, perhaps still familiar to many from Hertha BSC, has already scored three goals after these two games.
If you believe he can score on Thursday as well, the odds at Betano would climb to 1.95. It’s also interesting to note that Basaksehir scored seven of their ten goals before the break
Basaksehir should have everything under control against Iberia 1999. Analysis finished? Admittedly, it’s not that simple, of course. The fact that the Turks are far ahead of their opponents and have a much stronger individual line-up needs no discussion.
The crucial question for me is to what extent the underdogs can hold their own and how many goals the visitors will settle for. The Süper Lig will start shortly, so perhaps Basaksehir will save something for that.
In the end, I don’t think Iberia can do much, the squad simply doesn’t have much to offer. So since Basaksehir can presumably change and change, I’ve decided to think and type a little less spectacularly:
The 3.5 goals will not be scored
