Besiktas vs Sporting Lisbon - Quaresma expects no Europa League slip-ups

Posted Thursday, October 01, 2015 by PA

Portugal winger Ricardo Quaresma has declared Besiktas cannot afford to stumble against his former club Sporting Lisbon if they wish to make Europa League progress.

Quaresma comes up against Sporting for the first time since leaving Lisbon for Barcelona in 2003 with Besiktas having made a winning start in Group H by beating Skenderbeu 1-0 in Albania two weeks ago.

Sporting, meanwhile, are playing catch-up in the group after opening their campaign with a shock 3-1 home defeat to Lokomotiv Moscow.

"Our match against Sporting Lisbon is going to be real battle as two tough teams will face each other," Quaresma told his club's official website ahead of Thursday's game in Istanbul.

"Both sides will go after the three points because a victory at this stage of the campaign is an important step forward for everyone.

"We are up and ready. Besides, if we want to qualify from this group, we cannot afford to drop points at home."

Besiktas are expected to be without skipper Veli Kavlak and Tolgay Arslan through injury, but they head into the tie full of confidence following their 3-2 Turkish Super Lig league victory over Fenerbahce on Sunday.

Mario Gomez scored twice in the Istanbul derby and the 60-times capped Germany striker, who is on a season-long loan from Fiorentina, says Besiktas are dreaming about winning the Europa League.

"My goals for this season are to win the Super Lig title," Gomez told uefa.com.

"It will be hard but possible because we have a good team.

"The Europa League is a very big dream for our team and fans."

Sporting central defender Paulo Oliveira misses the trip to Turkey and is expected to be out for a month with a knee problem.

But midfielder William Carvalho is expected to start for the first time this season after recovering from a stress fracture, the Portugal international having played the final 20 minutes of Saturday's Primeira Liga draw at Boavista.

"William has been out for two months and he needs to play to get back up to speed," Sporting coach Jorge Jesus said after the Boavista game.

"He could have played regardless of the result.

"He will play more on Thursday and, bit by bit, we will try and use the quality he has, which is really important for the team."