Vincenzo Italiano took over at Beşiktaş this summer and has now managed six competitive matches. He has won all six. His team has scored eight goals and conceded none — not in Denmark, not in Czechia, not at home, not in the league. Five of those six matches were European ties, which means Beşiktaş have played the entire 2026-27 qualifying campaign so far without picking a ball out of their own net.
The Run
Every competitive match of the Italiano era so far.
The pattern held right up until the play-off, and then broke in the only direction that helps. Four of the first five wins were by a single goal; against Kauno Žalgiris at the Tüpraş Stadium the margin finally opened up. Hyeon-gyu Oh headed in a Rıdvan Yılmaz corner after six minutes, Murillo turned in a second from the same supplier on twelve, and Orkun Kökçü added a penalty just before the hour. Alexander Nübel, at the other end, again had nothing to pick out of his goal.
What a Clean Qualifying Run Is Actually Worth
Clean sheets do not earn coefficient points; wins do. But five European wins in five attempts have put 5.5 points on Beşiktaş's 2026-27 tally — the second-highest of any Turkish club this season, behind Galatasaray on 6 and ahead of Fenerbahçe on 4. That matters more than a club-level number usually would, because the country coefficient is an average: every point one Turkish club earns is divided across all five of them, and a club that goes out in July drags the average down for everyone.
The country coefficient divides the total by the number of clubs entered, so a strong qualifying run lifts the national figure as much as a deep run in the league phase does.
Türkiye currently sit ninth in the country ranking on 48.275, with four of their five entrants still alive in Europe. The 2026-27 season is contributing 3.1 so far. Ninth place is the position that decides how many Turkish clubs enter Europe — and how early they have to start — so an August spent winning rather than exiting is worth real money two seasons from now.
Thursday in Kaunas
The second leg is on 27 August in Lithuania, with Beşiktaş three goals up. Win or hold on, and they are in the Europa League league phase. Lose the tie, and they drop into the Conference League league phase instead — which is why European football is already guaranteed either way. The only thing still genuinely at stake on Thursday is which competition, and whether the goals-against column stays empty.
Snapshot as of 23 August 2026, before the play-off second leg. Match results and scorers sourced from UEFA and Turkish match reports; coefficient figures from this site's own database.