E Ende April, Anfang Mai … the decisive weeks in the European leagues. Some teams rise, others fall. In Germany Bayern Munich will be champions, in Turkey Galatasaray. That’s how it is.
Ten days ago, when Galatasaray in the Süper Lig defeated the second-placed Fenerbahçe 3-0 in their own stadium, I had congratulated my mother on the fourth consecutive championship. For me the season was over. Aside from the cup matches of my club Beşiktaş, I was ready to grant Turkish football a break — and all the paranoia and hatred that come with it.
If possible, I would even want to abstain from football until the World Cup in June, so I could miss it again. Because even the World Cup will be rather dull with the new format—especially if your own team ends up in a group with three countries like the USA, Australia and Paraguay, which are not exactly known for spectacular football.
But things turned out differently. Or, as Michael Corleone says in The Godfather Part III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
Galatasaray could have clinched the championship on Saturday against Samsunspor, but delivered one of the weakest performances of the season and conceded four goals. Fenerbahçe, meanwhile, defeated Başakşehir in their own stadium, coached by Nuri Şahin, thanks to a hat-trick by Brazilian Anderson Talisca, the league’s best left foot. And now, two matchdays from the end, the gap has shrunk back to four points.
As I drove past the Fenerbahçe stadium on Sunday, in foggy, gloomy weather, there was still something of the ominous mood from the day before in the air. For many fans, the game against Başakşehir was attended by a decision to stay away. Fenerbahçe coach Domenico Tedesco, who had stood out in Turkey for not reflexively blaming referees for defeats and for quickly earning sympathy, was sacked after the Galatasaray match. President Sadettin Saran, who had taken office at the start of the season with great hopes, announced he would not run again in the June elections. Fenerbahçe lies in ruins once more.
Even though Galatasaray is highly likely to become champion, you can’t take your eyes off the Süper Lig. It’s not easy to explain why. Perhaps it also somewhat resembles Turkey’s domestic politics: although it’s clear who will win each time, it’s hard to give up hope for change. Don’t misunderstand me — I do not equate Galatasaray with the government. If my grandfather, who once played for Galatasaray, were to turn in his grave, he would.
Looking at this century, i.e., since the 1999/2000 season, Bayern Munich leads clearly with 20 championships in 27 years. Galatasaray follows—should it win again this year—with 13 titles in second place (tied with PSV Eindhoven). These clubs have no real competition.
In this rotten system it’s anyway hard to say which club is “cleaner” than the other. But if a team like Fenerbahçe, which hasn’t won a championship in more than a decade, were to break this cycle, that might at least be a small sign of possible change in the country.
