The Galatasaray Lions, the defending Turkish champions who failed to make the Champions League proper, face Swiss minnow Bellinzona away, while the Beşiktaş Black Eagles take on Ukraine's FC Metalist Kharkiv at home and Kayserispor, dubbed the Anatolian Tigers, entertains French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain.

The Lions, the UEFA Cup champions and UEFA Super Cup winners in 2000, have been all over the place this season. In addition to being eliminated in the qualifying round of the elite Champions League, the team is also experiencing its worst start to the domestic league in over a decade -- with only one win and two draws in three matches.

Not that the Lions do not play well or that their opponents play better; the fact of the matter is that the "crooked legged" Galatasaray strikers just cannot put the ball into back of the net, as seen in the 1-1 home draw with Antalyaspor on Saturday.

So the Lions are in dire need of something to boost morale and help them out of this quagmire. And this evening the obscure Bellinzona might be the golden opportunity the Lions are looking for.

Everybody seems to doubt the credentials of Galatasaray's new German coach, Michael Skibbe, but the young German at least should be able to form a team that would give the Swiss a good soccer lesson. Galatasaray has several good players who won the Turkcell Super League title last season, but the biggest problem is that "Herr" Skibbe does not read the game well. All he needs to do is put the right players in the right places and forget the rest. If scoring is the problem, then he should start with three strikers -- Ümit Karan, Shabani Christophe Nonda and Milan Baros. The absence of fleet-footed winger Arda Turan and sweeper Mehmet Topal due to injury is not good news for the Lions but that is no excuse for not obtaining the desirable results.

AC Bellinzona, founded in 1904, has won the Swiss league title just once and that was far back in 1948. Since Bellinzona is an Italian-speaking region, many Italian Serie A clubs loan youth players to the club to get first-team experience, and AS Roma is the parent club to Bellinzona. But that does not conceal the fact that this Swiss team is an unknown as far as European soccer is concerned. Bellinzona lost 2-1 at home to the Young Boys in the Swiss Super League on Sunday and is placed second from bottom in the standings, meaning it is a team that crumbles easily under pressure.

The Lions should therefore attack from the starting whistle and make the Swiss run out of ideas. But this might be mere wishful thinking, according to Bellinzona's Nigerian striker Ikechukwu Kalu, who thinks his team can upset the Lions today.

The Nigerian striker, who joined the Swiss side from Italian club Sampdoria in the summer, got one of his team's goals in their preliminary qualifier and is looking forward to today's clash against the Lions. "It is probably going to be the biggest game in the history of the club, but we are looking forward to it," Kalu told KickOffNigeria.com. Galatasaray is a big club in Europe, but we are coming as the unknowns. The players are determined to show their stuff against one of Europe's biggest sides," he added.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, Kalu seems to be saying. So let's keep our fingers crossed.

FC Metalist Kharkiv in İstanbul

The high-flying Beşiktaş Black Eagles, co-leading the domestic league, should have no problems beating Ukraine's FC Metalist Kharkiv at İstanbul's İnonu Stadium this evening.

With two wins and one draw, the Eagles are one of the most consistent teams in the Turkcell Super League so far and their fans expect them to clinch this season's crown after a five-year title drought. Beşiktaş is playing entertaining soccer and even Sunday's 0-0 away draw with Trabzonspor was not at all a dull encounter.

Young Beşiktaş coach Ertuğrul Sağlam, of course, will be aiming to finish off Metalist in İstanbul this evening and make the return leg in Ukraine on Oct. 2 a mere formality. If captain-playmaker Matias Delgado, striker Bobo and Mert Nobre and Chile leftie Rodrigo Tello can find their rhythm, then a resounding Beşiktaş victory is a foregone conclusion. But the no-nonsense Sağlam has also warned his lads against complacency and has specifically instructed his defenders to rein in the Metalist danger men, Ruslan Formin, Venance Zeze and Jackson Avelino Coelho.

FC Metalist, whose name resembles that of a metal band more than a soccer team, has played under the following names: KhPZ (1936-1946), Dzerzhinets (1947-1956), Avangard (1956-1965), Metalist (1965-1991) and FC Metalist (since 1992). Thou shalt never underestimate thy opponent is one the commandments of this sport and so the Black Eagles do not have the luxury of taking the Ukrainians for granted. FC Metalist is a soccer team, after all, not a metal band.

Kayseri entertains PSG

Last, but not least, Kayserispor hosts PSG at the Atatürk Stadium this evening. The Kayseri Anatolian Tigers, the Fortis Turkish Cup winners last season, have always been a force to reckon with in Turkish soccer. In the three league outings so far they are undefeated -- winning one and drawing two, including their 0-0 tie with Galatasaray in the second week.

But Tolunay Kafkas' side lost its scoring touch after star striker Gökhan Ünal moved to Trabzonspor in the early summer. That could be a big headache for Kafkas, because the Anatolian Tigers need goals today to gain the upper hand for the second leg in Paris in two weeks' time. Whether or not Kafkas has a magic formula to deal with this problem we do not know. All we know is that the omens do not look good judging from Kayseri's goal drought in the domestic league.

PSG warmed up for today's match with a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over bottom club Nantes in Ligue 1 on Sunday. Fenerbahçe reject Serbian midfielder Mateja Kezman scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot after Guirane Ndaw fouled Guillaume Hoarau in the Nantes penalty area. With three wins, a draw and a loss, PSG has garnered 10 points in five Ligue 1 games.

Though playing at home this evening, there is no doubt that Kayserispor faces a formidable task.

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