Football: Turkish Super Lig starts on Friday

By Ercan Cakar

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish top tier football league, the Super Lig is set to kick off on Friday as the 81-day break ends.

The opening match of the 2019-2020 season will be played between Yukatel Denizlispor and Galatasaray, the latest winner of the league.

This season 306 matches will be played as there are 18 teams from 12 Turkish provinces.

Yukatel Denizlispor, Genclerbirligi and Gazisehir Gaziantep are the teams promoted to the Super Lig.

Bursaspor, Akhisarspor and Buyuksehir Belediye Erzurumspor were in the Super Lig last season but they were relegated to a lower division in May.

There are five teams from Istanbul this season, Besiktas, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Kasimpasa and Medipol Basaksehir.

Two teams are from the capital Ankara, MKE Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi.

The first half of this season will end on December 29 and the second half will begin on Jan. 17, 2020.

Super Lig will end on May 17, 2020.

The Intercontinental Derby between two Istanbul giants, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce will be on match day six and it will be played at Galatasaray's home, Turk Telekom Stadium.

Besiktas will host city rivals Galatasaray at Vodafone Park on match day nine.

Fenerbahce and Besiktas will meet in the 16th week at Fenerbahce's home ground Ulker Stadium.

- Matchday one fixtures:

Friday:

Yukatel Denizlispor-Galatasaray at 1730GMT

Saturday:

Genclerbirligi-Caykur Rizespor at 1615GMT

Istikbal Mobilya Kayserispor-Alanyaspor at 1845GMT

Demir Grup Sivasspor-Besiktas at 1845GMT

Sunday:

Konyaspor-MKE Ankaragucu at 1615GMT

Goztepe-Antalyaspor at 1615GMT

Yeni Malatyaspor-Medipol Basaksehir at 1845GMT

Kasimpasa-Trabzonspor at 1845GMT

Monday:

Fenerbahce-Gazisehir Gaziantep at 1700GMT