Fan Token® Trio Gear Up for Critical European Qualifiers

It’s shaping up to be another busy week for European football as the Europa League play-offs kick into high gear. Fan Token® holders will be keeping a close eye on three ties in particular on August 20: Benfica, Besiktas, and Trabzonspor.

While the main action is unfolding on the turf, holders of the clubs’ corresponding digital assets will be kept busy trading the tokens in the build-up and aftermath of the respective ties. Benfica have a home match against Danish side AGF Aarhus, Besiktas host Lithuanians Kauno Žalgiris, and Trabzonspor complete the trifecta of home contests, taking on Hungary’s Ferencváros.

While home advantage invariably plays its part, whatever the competition, this is particularly true in Europe, and the stats make Benfica, Besiktas, and Trabzonspor firm favorites to edge out their opponents on Thursday night. This early into the season, however, with new players still settling in and formations being finalized, there are no absolute certainties.

Turkish Teams Move Up a Gear

Of the two Turkish sides profiled here, it’s Besiktas who have really impressed so far, winning their last five competitive matches including Sunday’s Süper Lig opener against Eyüpspor as well as seeing off Europa League opponents Hradec Králové and Midtjylland over two legs prior to that. 

Besiktas’ last three games have all been won by a single goal to nil, however, and coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be expecting his frontline to be more clinical when they take on Kauno Žalgiris, who recorded a draw and a win in their last two Toplyga matches.

For holders of the Besiktas Fan Token® ($BJK), it’s been a great start to the season. The digital asset is up 25% in the past week and 46% in the last 90 days, attesting both to the newfound momentum behind the club and the heightened interest in Turkish football in general.

The Trabzonspor Fan Token® ($TRA), in comparison, has posted more modest gains over the same period, but its market cap, at $2.14M, is also multiples higher than $BJK. At the start of August, $TRA surged 40% to reach $0.26 per token and is currently trading around $0.21, which leaves it still up around 25% on where it sat at the start of the month. 

Benfica Have Yet to Break a Sweat

Meanwhile in Portugal, Benfica have strolled their way into the new season, scarcely breaking a sweat in their Europa League qualifiers up until now. They put Casa Pia to the sword on Monday in the domestic league, scoring seven goals without reply, and comfortably bested Scotland’s league runners-up last season, Heart of Midlothian, 7-2, in their most recent Europa League encounter.

Benfica also knocked five goals past St Gallen at home in the Europa League in the previous round. Denmark’s AGF will need to be at their very best if they’re to take anything from Thursday night’s tie in Lisbon. 

The Portuguese club’s Fan Token® $BENFICA is currently trading at $0.088, having exhibited much lower volatility than most other assets – it’s been trading in this range for weeks. Will this week’s European action finally provide the catalyst for $BENFICA to make a break out?

With no less than a dozen Europa League play-offs taking place on August 20, it should prove a thrilling evening for supporters and SportFi traders as the continent’s leading football nations go head to head.