Besiktas square off against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round tie on Thursday night.
Both of these teams are used to competing in the main phase of a European competition, but they will have to go through qualifying to earn that right for 2025-26.
The home side have played a number of friendlies in a bid to get fit for this tie, recording one win, one draw and two defeats albeit with not all of the games featuring their best XIs.
Meanwhile, Shakhtar featured in the first qualifying round, cruising to a 6-0 aggregate triumph over Ilves of Finland.
How the bookies see it: A difficult tie to predict
While Besiktas would usually be a clear favourite to win the home leg of this fixture, Shakhtar having competitive football on their schedule for July evens things up.
Besiktas are priced at 11/8 with Shakhtar currently at 8/5. The draw can be had at an attractive-looking 12/5, the bigger betting odds as the bookies struggle to split these teams.
Head to head: Inaugural competitive meeting
Remarkably, these two teams have never met in a competitive European fixture, despite their frequent group-stage and knockout-stage appearances.
Five friendlies have taken place over the past 19 years, most recently in 2024 when Shakhtar prevailed by a 1-0 scoreline.
Players to watch: Abraham to start in style?
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the dugout since the start of 2025, Besiktas have gone on the offensive in the transfer market, attracting several high-profile names to the club.
Benfica midfielder Orkun Kokcu and Roma forward Tammy Abraham are both stellar additions on loan and should establish themselves as key players if they remain fit.
Felix Uduokhai has also completed a permanent transfer having made 36 appearances for Besiktas in 2024-25.
Meanwhile, Shakthar now have former Turkey midfielder Arda Turan at the helm, his first transfer business being to bring defender Marlon back to the club.
Despite widespread interest in his signature, Heorhiy Sudakov remains at Shakhtar and is the clear biggest threat in his team from a creative and goalscoring role.
Predicted lineups: New signings, no surprises
The exact first XI of Besiktas is somewhat of an unknown, but it seems plausible to expect a similar starting lineup to the one that began the 3-2 friendly defeat at Wolfsburg.
Having failed to earn a permanent move to Monaco, Al-Musrati has been reintegrated back into the squad and is in contention for a start if Solskjaer tinkers with his team.
Turan may take the same approach through selecting the team that won 6-0 in the first leg against Ilves.
There were five different goalscorers in that contest, including two from right-winger Alisson Santana. Kaua Elias may also keep his spot down the middle of the attack having also netted.
Besiktas: Gunok; Svensson, Gabriel, Uduokhai, Jurasek; Tiknaz, Yilmaz; Rashica, Silva, Mario; Abraham
Shakhtar Donetsk: Riznyk; Konoplya, Bondar, Matviyenko, Pedrinho; Gomes; Santana, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Kevin; Elias
Anything else catch the eye?
Albeit against generally weaker opposition, Shakhtar head into this fixture having conceded just once in two European games and three friendlies since July 4.
However, it should be noted that 11 of their 13 goals scored during that five-match period came across two games.
Meanwhile, since starting pre-season with a 2-0 win over Austrian side St Polten, Besiktas have failed to win their following three friendlies.
Furthermore, they have conceded six times, although it should be noted that the 2-1 reverse to Petrzalka was with a second-string squad.
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