Besiktas aim 1st win, Napoli target early qualification

Besiktas to meet Italian football heavyweights Napoli Wednesday in tough Champions League away match

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish football club Besiktas is set to play a tough away match against Italian football heavyweights Napoli in UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

Napoli are leading Group B having won the first two matches while Besiktas are in the second spot with two points and looking forward to their first victory in the group.

Favorites Napoli on the other hand want to win against Besiktas as they expect an early qualification for the next stage.

In order to secure that, the other teams of the group Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica need to draw each other in which case Napoli will be in the last 16.

The match at Stadio San Paolo in Naples -- which will see Besiktas and Napoli face each other for the first time in European competition -- will kick off Wednesday at 8.45 p.m local time (1845 GMT).

Latest Turkish Super Lig champions Besiktas' new signing Gokhan Inler will face his old team in the match. The 32-year-old Swiss central midfielder played for Napoli from 2011 to 2015.

Inler was a Napoli regular as he had 166 appearances for his ex-club in his four-year-spell at Stadio San Paolo.

"I had four wonderful years at Napoli," he told an Italian TV channel.

"I'll be delighted to see my former teammates and people I know, even if I am in the opposition team now. I'm playing for the club I've dreamed about since childhood and we will travel to San Paolo for a win," Inler said, adding he would not celebrate if he scored against his former team.

Besiktas regular Oguzhan Ozyakup and Napoli's Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik are both likely to miss the critical match due to their injuries. Milik has tallied seven goals in nine appearances for his team this season.

- Group B standings: