Besiktas vs Viktoria Plzen

Kufstein-Arena forms the backdrop for an exciting summer friendly between Turkish heavyweights Besiktas and reigning Czech Republic champions Viktoria Plzen.

Besiktas got their pre-season preparations off to a flying start as they came from behind to beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in their opening off-season fixture. However, after an underwhelming sixth-place finish in the Super Lig last season, new manager Valerin Ismael has his hands full this summer. Despite a thoroughly disappointing 2021/22 season, ‘Kara Kartallar’ will show up in a confident mood after going unbeaten in five outings (W3, D2). Yet, a lack of consistency saw them alternate between winning and losing on each occasion during that five-game sequence. Besiktas will feel confident about staying on the upwards trajectory as they’ve avoided defeat in both previous meetings with Plzen (W1, D1).

Meanwhile, Viktoria Plzen’s first match against Besiktas since a heartbreaking Europa League semi-final exit in 2010 comes in the midst of a rough patch. After winning their opening four summer friendlies by an aggregate score of 21-1, the defending Czech champions have gone winless in their last two warm-up contests (D1, L1), scoring just once. But before slipping to a 3-1 defeat to Belgian outfit St Truiden last time out, Plzen’s rock-solid backline had kept a whopping seven clean sheets across their previous eight matches. Michal Bilek’s men need to stay compact at the back if they are to prevail here, as they’ve only won two of their last eight games in which they conceded (D6).