Besiktas Dominates Europa League with Nübel's Stellar Performance

Besiktas did not just take a step towards the Europa League proper. They kicked the door in.

Vincenzo Italiano’s new-look side dismantled FK Kauno Zalgiris 3-0 in Istanbul in the first leg of their Europa League play-off, a scoreline that flattered the Lithuanian visitors as much as it underlined the hosts’ early-season authority. Six games played, six wins, zero goals conceded. The numbers are brutal.

Fast start, ruthless edge

The contest was effectively over before it had time to breathe.

In the 6th minute, Hyeon-Gyu Oh struck first, capitalising on Besiktas’ bright opening to give the Turkish giants an immediate grip on the tie. Six minutes later, that grip tightened. Michael Amir Murillo arrived to make it 2-0 in the 12th minute, and from there the evening turned into an exercise in control.

Kauno Zalgiris chased shadows. Besiktas moved the ball with the confidence of a side already convinced of its own trajectory under Italiano. The pressure finally told again just before the hour. In the 59th minute, Orkun Kökcü added the third, pushing the aggregate score – and the tie – to the brink of being decided after just one leg.

The result leaves Besiktas with one foot firmly in the league phase of the 2026/27 Europa League. On this evidence, they may not be there just to make up the numbers.

Nübel the new wall in Istanbul

For all the attacking flair, the story of Besiktas’ season so far sits at the other end of the pitch.

Against the club from Kaunas, Alexander Nübel made his sixth competitive appearance for his new team. He has yet to pick the ball out of his net. Six games, six clean sheets. A perfect record.

Turkish media have already found the headline. “Nübel is a wall – he does not concede any goals,” wrote daily newspaper Hürriyet, hailing the goalkeeper who has “caused a stir with his performances in the black-and-white shirt.”

It is a striking turnaround for a player who never quite broke through at Bayern Munich. Under contract there from 2020 to 2026, Nübel managed just four competitive appearances for the German champions. His loan spell at Stuttgart restored his reputation; his move to Istanbul is now amplifying it.

Besiktas, meanwhile, have ridden that defensive security to a flawless start under Italiano: six wins from six in all competitions, with not a single goal allowed.

Heavy investment, instant impact

This dominance has not come out of nowhere. It has been paid for.

Club officials have already spent just under €67 million on new players as they attempt to drag Besiktas back to the forefront at home and in Europe. Nübel arrived permanently from Bayern Munich in July for just under €6 million, a fee that already looks like smart business.

The headline deal, though, was the decision to keep Orkun Kökcü. Previously on loan from Benfica, the midfielder has now joined on a permanent basis for €30 million, a statement of intent in itself.

Besiktas did not stop there. They moved decisively in the free-agent market to bring in Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus Turin, adding a powerful focal point to their attack, and then struck again in the Premier League, signing Leandro Trossard from Arsenal for €18 million.

These are not speculative punts. They are signings for now, not later.

A perfect run, with one warning sign

The only sour note on a near-perfect night came with Trossard’s early exit. The Belgian picked up an injury during the win over Zalgiris and had to be substituted, a concern for a side that has just begun to knit its new attacking pieces together.

Even so, the mood around the club is clear. Before they finish the job in Lithuania next Thursday in the second leg, Besiktas head to Alanyaspor on matchday two of the Süper Lig, eager to extend their flawless start domestically as well.

Six games, six wins, no goals conceded, big-money signings already shaping the team’s identity. For Italiano and Besiktas, the question now is not whether this early surge is real.

It is how far it can carry them.