Besiktas coach to ask UEFA permission to forfeit second-leg home game against Bayern Munich following devastating first-leg Champions League Round-of-16 defeat

A demoralized Besiktas team arrived in Istanbul this evening with their heads down and their spirits low after totally being outclassed in their round-of-16 first leg tie by a rampant Bayern Munich outfit which is hungry to win its first UEFA Champions League trophy in five years and it's second under Jupp Heynkes. Besiktas, the reigning Turkish Champions, hoping beyond hope to make it to the quarterfinals in Europe for the first time since the 1986-87 season, was brought back down to earth as the German Champions, led by a brace each from Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski and another goal from Kingsley Coman, ran away 5-0 winners and are effectively already in the quarterfinals barring the most miraculous of turnarounds in Champions League history.

Speaking at a press conference at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Besiktas coach Senol Gunes, who led the Turkish National team to third place at the 2002 World Cup said:

"Gosh, this is a bitter pill to swallow. I know that it was always going to be tough to face Bayern in their own back yard and come out with something positive from the match. That said, I never expected the humiliating type of defeat like what happened in Munich tonight. Some people may be of the view that Vida's sending off in the 16th minute for bringing down Lewandowski may have contributed to such a heavy defeat, maybe. But one has to admit that Bayern is a damn good team."

He went on:

"They tend to take full advantage of the opportunities that you give them. Although frankly speaking, I don't think that Vida's expulsion was the catalyst for our demise tonight. Even if we had a full eleven-man team Mueller and Lewandowski would have still been quite tough to handle. I must thank my Besiktas players for the courage that they showed tonight despite the drubbing we received."

Gunes, not surprisingly, sounded pessimistic about the second leg and made the surprise announcement:

"I am not expecting anything special from my team in the return leg. It basically makes no sense playing it. How can we score six unanswered goals against a team like Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena? Not even the great Real Madrid could have done that. They only managed to score four against them in the 2013-2014 season during their semifinal second leg clash. We are effectively already eliminated. Even home support will not be enough to take us to the quarterfinals. So, not wanting to subject my players to any more humiliation, I intend to write a formal letter to UEFA asking them for permission to forfeit the second leg and allow Bayern Munich to go through to the quarterfinals. I spoke it over with the players and they all unanimously agreed to it. They just don't have the motivation to play what is effectively a meaningless second leg."

He ended by saying:

"Some teams are just better that others and Bayern proved that against us tonight; much to our dismay."