A banner year for Canadian footballers in Europe continued Saturday with men’s national team stalwarts Cyle Larin and Atiba Hutchinson capturing the Turkish SuperLig title with Besiktas.
Larin drew a penalty in the second half that led to the winner in a 2-1 win over Göztepe – a result that secured the club’s 16th Turkish top-flight title.
The Canadian duo were instrumental in the Besiktas league championship run with Larin supplying a team-high 19 goals (finishing second for Turkish golden boot) and Hutchinson, 38, supplying a staggering 34 league appearances and four goals in his eighth season with the club.
Larin (33 caps for Canada, 12 goals) and Hutchinson (85 caps) are just the latest Canadians to win top tier titles in Europe, joining Scott Arfield (Rangers, Scotland), Milan Borjan (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), Jessie Fleming (Chelsea, England), and Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich, Germany) – the latter two of which winning just last week.
Meantime, there are two more big titles on the line for Canadians Sunday.
Lille OSC’s Jonathan David will attempt to capture the French Ligue 1 title live on OneSoccer Sunday against St-Étienne (3pm ET/12pm PT). Les Dogues are in pole position going into the final matchday, three points up on league favourites Paris St. Germain.
At the same time, Fleming and her Women’s Super League-winning Chelsea side will face Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Los canadienses ?? Cyle Larin y Atiba Hutchinson se proclaman campeones de la #Superlig turca con el Besiktas JK. El delantero (23 goles y 5 asist. en 43 partidos) y el centrocampista (4 goles y 11 asistencias en 39 partidos) han sido fundamentales en el título. ??? #CanMNT pic.twitter.com/odMOZHyUvV
— Jaime Ojeda (@jaimeor96) May 15, 2021