In 100 years of Turkish club football, no one has been more successful than Fenerbahce.
The Istanbul giants have claimed 28 national titles, winning their very first in 1933, although these days only those during the professional Super Lig era since 1959 are formally recognised by the Turkish Football Federation.
Fenerbahce have still maintained great success over the last 65 years, winning 19 league titles, but they have agonisingly finished runner-up on 24 occasions and their most recent triumph was now more than a full decade ago in 2013/14.
Meanwhile, fierce city rivals Galatasaray have been crowned champions five times during that drought, including last term when they became the first Turkish club to break the 100-point barrier. Even more agonisingly, Fenerbahce, whose 93 points from 1988/89 was the previous single season Super Lig record, put up the second higher tally of all time (99) and still finished second.
So when club legend Ismail Kartal’s one-year contract came to an end during the summer and he left for the third time in a decade, Fenerbahce scouted out the newly available coach with perhaps the biggest worldwide reputation of the last 20 years: Jose Mourinho.
He arrived with 21 major trophies in his personal collection, including the Champions League with two different clubs and domestic league titles in four countries.
Mourinho, who was forever labelled ‘The Special One’ after a line he uttered to the English press during his unveiling at Chelsea in 2004, told Fenerbahce fans when he signed his contract at a public event at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in June: “This shirt is my skin.”
Fenerbahce also went big in the summer transfer market, spending handsomely on Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri, recruiting up and coming Turkish talent Oguz Aydin and making former Leicester City and Atletico Madrid defender Caglar Soyuncu a permanent signing after last season’s loan. Veteran striker Cenk Tosun moved across Istanbul from Besiktas on a free transfer, with Allan Saint-Maximin, Filip Kostic and Sofyan Amrabat all also arriving on loan.
Super Lig
So far, the reality hasn’t quite lived up to the hype.
Things started well enough as the Super Lig campaign began, with Edin Dzeko scoring the only goal in an opening win over Adana Demirspor. But quickly came a setback when, a week later, Fenerbahce gave up a 2-0 half-time lead at Goztepe to draw 2-2 – the equaliser was scored in the 95th minute.
Mourinho’s side responded with three successive wins over Caykur Rizespor, Alanyaspor and Kasimpasa either side of the September international break, scoring ten and conceding none. But the real big test, the ‘Intercontinental Derby’ against Galatasaray, resulted in a home defeat. Gala were 3-0 up inside an hour at Sukru Saracoglu, in what was something of an efficient smash and grab, with Fenerbahce edging possession, completing a higher percentage of passes and creating more chances. Dzeko’s second half penalty only slightly reduced the embarrassment.
Fenerbahce responded by beating Antalyaspor a week later, but another lead lost to another late equaliser subsequently cost them two points in a 2-2 draw with Samsunspor last time out on Sunday.
It means at this stage of the season, Fenerbahce sit fourth in the Super Lig table, having won five of their eight games. Meanwhile, Galatasaray, albeit having played a game more, are already eight points ahead in top spot, winning eight of nine fixtures played. Besiktas and Samsunspor split them.
Champions League
Last season’s second place Super Lig finish qualified Fenerbahce for the 2024/25 Champions League, entering the competition in the second qualifying round in late July.
They had more trouble than might have been expected against Switzerland’s Lugano, who opened the scoring at home in the first leg inside four minutes. Eventually, Fenerbahce prevailed 4-3, although conceding in the 94th minute halved their aggregate advantage – as you can tell, late goals going in have been a recurring theme over the course of the season so far.
Lugano then levelled the aggregate score-line at 4-4 only seven minutes into the return leg in Istanbul, with the tie even until Dzeko struck on the hour mark and Sebastian Szymanski won it on the night and made certain of the aggregate victory in stoppage time.
Conceding late goals killed Fenerbahce in the third qualifying round after being paired with Lille.
They looked to have secured a promising 1-1 draw in France when Irfan Kahveci equalised with ten minutes to play, only for Lille to then nick it in stoppage time through Edon Zhegrova. That meant Fenerbahce then had to chase the game in the return leg at home, eventually forcing extra-time when Bafode Diakite turned the ball into his own net. But when Lille were awarded a 118th minute penalty just as a shootout beckoned, Jonathan David converted to send the French side through.
Lille went on to beat Slavia Prague in the play-off round and have since also secured a famous win over Real Madrid in the league phase, yet Fenerbahce will be feeling sick about a place in the Europe’s elite competition that was very much within their grasp.
Europa League
The consolation for exiting the Champions League when they did was being parachuted into the Europa League’s league phase.
Fenerbahce’s secondary European campaign started with a victory over Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise on matchday one, although they still conceded in stoppage time that turned a 2-0 score-line into 2-1. They were subsequently held to a 1-1 draw by FC Twente on matchday two – the same as when Manchester United had earlier faced the Dutch side – and sit 13th in the current table.
As it stands, that would be enough to progress to the knockout play-off round as a seeded team, while they are eight places higher than United.
Still to come after hosting the Red Devils this week, Mourinho’s Fenerbahce will face AZ, Slavia Prague, Athletic Club, Lyon and Midtjylland in the remainder of the league phase.
