The Yellow Canaries finished their Istanbul phase of preparations for Saturday night's Eskişehirspor match and traveled to the city of Eskişehir on Friday afternoon. While injured players Roberto Carlos, Önder Turacı and Colin Kazım-Richards were left in Istanbul, Emre Belözoğlu surprisingly made it into the match squad for tomorrow's game.

With Fener and Cimbom guaranteeing the top spots in their Europa League groups and Beşiktaş still holding onto the possibility of a third-placed Champions League contingent through to the same competition, Turkey's chances of participating in UEFA competitions with six clubs in the 2011/12 season has increased. Turkey will be able to send a sixth club to Europe, especially if Portuguese and Dutch teams make an early exit this season.    

Beşiktaş open the Turkcell Süper Lig Friday, eyeing a chance to move into first place.  The Black Eagles host Diyarbakırspor in the opening match of the weekend Friday night, as they sit just a point behind Fenerbahçe in the standings.  Elsewhere, a matchup of top-five teams takes place Sunday night in Kayseri.  Here is a look around the league this weekend:

A report this morning says Russian National Team coach Guus Hiddink is close to being named to the same post for the Turkish National Team.  The Milli Takım has been without a coach since the resignation of Fatih Terim, who failed to lead the team to 2010 World Cup qualification.  The new era in Turkish football may be getting underway soon, however.

With one game week to go in the Europa League group stage, the Yellow Canaries have already clinched the top spot in Group H. Fenerbahçe have thus guaranteed group leadership and won't be facing tough opponents from the Champions League in the next round. Things are also starting to fall into place in the other Europa League groups, so here is a quick overview of Fenerbahçe's possible opponents in the Round of 32.