The 2010-2011 Süper Lig season is still several weeks away, but fans will get a rare chance to see the world's biggest derby in a different setting Wednesday night.  Fenerbahçe face arch-rivals Galatasaray later tonight in the Spor Toto Friendly Cup at Borussia Park Stadium in Mönchengladbach, Germany.  Both teams have played several friendlies already in an effort to look at new and young players, but the two coaches are expected to field first team lineups this evening. 

Fans get a bonus edition of the world's biggest derby later this evening in Germany.  The two fiercest rivals in football face each other in a friendly in Mönchengladbach, but there is a debate over just how 'friendly' these two teams can be. 

Although it seems a bit unusual for these two teams to meet outside of Turkey, it's not without precedent.  Tonight's match is actually the fourth time these two sides have met outside of Turkish borders.  They first met on August 3rd, 1980, with Fener pulling out a 3-2 win in the Vatan Cup in Offenbach, Germany.  Nearly ten years to the day later, Galatasaray would get a bit of revenge, taking down their rivals 2-0 in Cologne, Germany on August 4th, 1990.  Then on July 17th, 1996, the two teams would meet again in Frankfurt, Germany, with a scoreless draw resulting.  That means the winner of Wednesday's match can get the upper hand on the 'world's biggest derby abroad' rivalry. 

These two rivals have been meeting for 101 years, and tonight's match is the 365th meeting in the series.  Fenerbahçe have 138 victories, while Galatasaray have won 116 times.  The two sides finished level in 110 of those matches.  In those previous 364 meetings, Fener have scored 511 goals, while Galatasaray have hit the back of the net 463 times. 

Coaches Aykut Kocaman and Frank Rijkaard have been using their summer friendlies to get a good look at their new and young players.  For Fenerbahçe, it's been a rough couple of weeks.  The team has only one win in three friendlies so far, and the team looked uninspired in all three matches.  They were outscored 7-2 in the two losses before claiming a 3-0 win over Belgian side KRC Genk.  Galatasaray, on the other hand, have rolled in their three friendlies, outscoring their opponents 13-0.  The Lions have played far inferior competition, however, earning their three wins over two German 5th-division sides, and a club from Iran. 

For Fenerbahçe, few first team players have seen significant minutes so far this summer.  That's because Aykut Kocaman has used the friendlies to take a look at some of his more inexperienced players, as well as new transfers Miroslav Stoch, Caner Erkin, and İlhan Eker.  It's also due to the fact that the Yellow Canaries have been hit by a number of injuries already this summer, with Mehmet Topuz, Andre Santos, Volkan Demirel, Semih Şentürk, Selçuk Şahin, Gökhan Ünal, and others missing practice time in the team's Belgian camp.  Kocaman will likely field a first team lineup Wednesday night, however, along with his Galatasaray counterpart Frank Rijkaard. 

Reports indicate that Kocman may go with Volkan Demirel, Fabio Bilica, İlhan Eker, Bekir İrtegün, André Santos, Miroslav Stoch, Selçuk Şahin, Colin Kazım-Richards, Cristian Baroni, Alex de Souza, and Gökhan Ünal Wednesday night.  Rijkaard may field a first eleven of Ufuk Ceylan, Sabri Sarıoğlu, Ali Turan, Servet Çetin, Hakan Balta, Lorik Cana, Mustafa Sarp, Aydın Yılmaz, Serdar Özkan, Arda Turan, Mehmet Batdal for Galatasaray. 

Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray meet in a summer edition of the world's biggest derby Wednesday night.  Kickoff in the Spor Toto Friendly Cup at Borussia Park Stadium in Mönchengladbach, Germany is set for 20:00 local time (CET). [21:00 Turkish time, 7:00 PM in the UK, 4:00 AM in Australia, 2:00 PM in the US (EST)] Fans in Turkey can watch the match live on D-Smart (Futbol Smart and TRT-HD).