Italiano's assessment of Vlahovic after the Eyüpspor win

Beşiktaş defeated Eyüpspor 1-0 at home in the opening week of the Trendyol Süper Lig, starting the season with a win. Speaking after the match, head coach Vincenzo Italiano expressed his satisfaction particularly with their performance in the first half. The Italian coach stated that he believed they could have shown an even more dominant game in the second half after the opponent's player received a red card.

Reminding that he made four substitutions during the match, Italiano said he was very pleased that the team did not compromise on its game plan despite this rotation. Pointing out that the season would be long and exhausting, with the team competing on three different fronts, the coach emphasized that they would need the entire squad. He noted that he had warned his players about the opponent's counter-attack organizations at halftime, but still felt they had conceded too many chances.

Italiano also answered questions regarding Dusan Vlahovic's playing time process, recalling that he had previously applied this same management style with Trossard. Stating that he gave Trossard increasing minutes gradually and that he played 70 minutes in this match, the head coach said he would follow a similar path with Vlahovic. He explained that they wanted to be careful about injury risk with the Serbian striker, who had trained individually for a long time, and that he would likely be on the bench for Thursday's match. Describing Vlahovic as physically powerful and a very good finisher inside the box, Italiano emphasized that the player would be seen on the pitch soon.

Italiano also clarified a question about the team's attacking approach, saying that the main principle was to feed the center forward well. He noted that Semih and Oh had important chances in this match, and that Junior Olaitan had recently stood out with his assists. Saying that he also considers the wingers as forwards in his own way, the coach added that in recent matches goals have mostly come from the wings, but that this productivity needs to increase further, and that goal responsibility should not lie only with the forward and wingers, but with everyone capable of shooting.