Football: Basaksehir 'hopeful' for Sevilla result

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) - Basaksehir remains “hopeful” for a result against Sevilla in the two sides’ UEFA Champions League play-off round, a team representative told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

The Turkish club was drawn against the Spanish La Liga club at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, earlier on Friday.

Basaksehir representative Omer Faruk Ayvaci told Anadolu Agency his club was there on merit: "We did not get to this round by luck. We got here with good football. We will do our best to eliminate Sevilla. We are hopeful."

Noting that Sevilla will be difficult, Ayvaci said according to UEFA rankings, Basaksehir had been paired with the strongest team of this round.

Sevilla representative Jesus Arroyo Sanchez said: "When you are in this kind of competition, all the clubs are important. l respect our opponent, the Istanbul club. We will see."

The two-leg fixture is one of 10 that will decide which teams to go through to the Champions League group stages. The first leg will be played on Aug.16, in Istanbul’s Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium and the second leg will be played on August 22 in Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Basaksehir made several signings over the summer, adding Eljero Elia from Feyenoord, Aurelien Chedjou from Galatasaray, Mevlut Erdinc from Hannover, Gael Clichy from Manchester City, Tunay Torun from Kasimpasa and Gokhan Inler from Besiktas.

They have also recently signed Kerim Frei from Birmingham City and Manuel da Costa from Olympiacos.

Sevilla have added defender Simon Kjaer from Fenerbahce on a fee of €12.5 million ($15 million).