Soccer-Fenerbahce, Galatasaray aim for the stars in Turkish league

ISTANBUL, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Galatasaray, under Italy's World Cup manager Cesare Prandelli, and their arch-rivals Fenerbahce will be aiming for the stars when the Turkish league season kicks off this weekend. Both teams have won 19 titles after Fenerbahce's championship last season and a 20th would allow the successful team to add a fourth star to their team shirts - one star is allotted for every five championships. Fenerbahce parted company with their title-winning coach Ersun Yanal this month and have promoted Ismail Kartal, a former player for the club and assistant coach since 2010, to succeed him. But their most important move could be the signing of former Atletico Madrid midfielder Diego on a free transfer. The number of non-Turkish players allowed on the pitch is being cut this season to five per team from six. Galatasaray took on Prandelli after parting company with Roberto Mancini who left after one season despite winning the Turkish Cup and finishing second in the league. In this week's warm-up match for the new season, the Turkish Super Cup, Fenerbahce beat Galatasaray on penalties. The other Istanbul team, Besiktas, with 13 championships to their name, have signed Demba Ba from Chelsea and Ramon Motta from Corinthians in an attempt to win their first title since 2009. On Wednesday Arsenal beat Besiktas, who finished third last season, to secure a spot in the Champions League group stage. Galatasaray will thus be the only Turkish team in the group stage because Fenerbahce miss out on European competition following a two-year ban for match-fixing. (Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Robert Woodward)