Today it's time again for one of the most traditional football derbies in the world. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce bring the metropolis Istanbul to a standstill for 90 minutes in an open exchange of blows. Is the Istanbul Derby more appearance than reality?

Football is sometimes just a matter of emotion and feeling. This becomes particularly clear when two bitter rivals face each other in a derby. Hate and love collide with each other. A victory means much more than just the three points for every die-hard supporter and often shapes the entire season. In Turkey, for example, all eyes are on the intercontinental derby on Friday. Record champion Galatasaray invites his archrival Fenerbahce to the 388th dance at home. Both teams need a derby victory for the liberation shot. The hosts were not able to win the last three compulsory games and last week they gave Basaksehir the lead of the table. The situation is much more dramatic for Fenerbahce. In Samandira, the tree is on fire: only nine points in the first ten league games, 15th place in the standings, eliminated players, angry fans and the first compulsory game after Phillip Cocu's dismissal.

The Dutchman's Istanbul adventure proved to be a big misunderstanding. In last weekend's 3-1 failure against Ankaragücü last weekend, President Ali Koc had enough and fired the Eredivisie champions coach. Co-Coach Erwin Koeman takes the scepter over Galatasaray on an interim basis. Circumstances show that the yellow navy blue need the three points more than the other. But even the reigning champions have not yet been able to convince their supporters, despite their better position on the table. Furthermore, the last victory against Fenerbahce in the league was more than four years ago. A loss of points could increase the gap to the top of the standings and affect the team's morale before the important Champions League group match against Schalke.

"We got a samurai from Japan and even he can't play because of an injury. I don't know what to say anymore". With this statement the "emperor" Fatih Terim against Yeni Malatyaspor (0:2) pointed out his long list of injured. Yuto Nagatomo, Emre Akbaba, Fernando, Sofiane Feghouli, Eren Derdiyok, Serdar Aziz, Henry Onyekuru were out of action due to injury. But the veterans can breathe a sigh of relief as the military hospital gradually lifts its head: Feghouli, Serdar Aziz, Derdiyok and Onyekuru have all started training the last days. Whether the four charges will be able to run up against Fenerbahce will be decided before the kick-off. Younes Belhanda and Martin Linnes gave the green light after their injuries in Malatya. Mariano, on the other hand, is missing due to a yellow bar. Hopefully Terim had serious four-eyes talks with players like Garry Rodrigues or Sinan Gümu. The appearances of the two kickers in the past weeks left much to be desired - especially at a time when Terim cannot draw much from the budget in terms of personnel anyway.

On the Asian side of Istanbul there will also be one or two retirements. Mehmet Topal, Tolga Cigerci, Mehmet Ekici, Oguz Kagan Güctekin and the red-locked Islam Slimani are not available to interim coach Erwin Koeman. The public is eagerly awaiting the team's reaction after Cocu's dismissal. On top of that, there was speculation throughout the week about a pardon for Volkan Demirel, who could have taken command with all his experience and leadership as captain. That was not the case. Demirel remains sorted out.

An intercontinental derby without escalations and riots on the pitch? Actually rarely imaginable. This could be confirmed today. In both rows there are no troublemakers, like once with Felipe Melo or Emre Belözoglu. Therefore we can assume a peaceful Derby. On the other hand, there should be little hope for a goal-rich game. The playing quality of the past derbies in the recent past was under all pigeonholes and marked by a lot of zero numbers. If you also consider that both teams have their current problems in the offensive, among other things, the game may be decided with few goals. Fenerbahce lack a surprisingly cautious Islam Slimani, and Galatasaray are already thin on the attack following the departure of Bafetimbi Gomis. The Yellow Reds scored only one goal in the last three games of the competition. On the other hand, Fenerbahce defeated the opposing goalkeeper once in the last four league duels. Weak.

An old football saying says that big games are decided with good strikers and even better goalkeepers. Since both sides are denied the strikers, it's worth taking a look at the goalkeepers. Fernando Muslera has the edge over Harun Tekin in every respect. The experienced goalkeeper last saved the point against Schalke (0:0) in the league of the champions with a brilliant performance and was even honoured on the official Twitter account of the UEFA Champions League. Tekin, on the other hand, made surprisingly many mistakes in the young season. The former national goalkeeper does not yet radiate safety during Bursa times.

It is therefore impossible to make a clear prediction about the final result, as both teams are lagging behind in their form. The respective daily form will decide the match. Considering the facts, I expect a victoryfor the home team, Galatasaray with much luck. Let's hope for a peaceful and exciting derby!