Fenerbahçe loses first turkish league match before olympique lyonnais champions league playoff
Just three days before their crucial Champions League playoff first leg against Lyon, Fenerbahçe experienced a disappointing start to their Turkish Championship campaign, suffering a 2-1 away defeat to Gençlerbirligi.
This outcome will undoubtedly bring a sense of reassurance to supporters of Olympique Lyonnais, as their team prepares for the away leg in Istanbul this Tuesday (9 PM) in the Champions League qualification playoff against Paulo Fonseca’s Fenerbahçe squad. Despite making significant changes to their starting eleven—six alterations from the lineup that faced Sturm Graz last Tuesday—the Turkish giants fell to Gençlerbirligi with a score of 1-2 on Saturday evening, marking their opening fixture in the Süper Lig season.
On the pitch in Ankara, Fenerbahçe coach Ismail Kartal opted to rest several key regular starters. Prominent players such as N’Golo Kanté, Mason Greenwood, Nélson Semedo, and Kerem Aktürkoglu began the match on the bench, only entering the fray for the final thirty minutes. English left-back Archie Brown was notably given a full rest, not featuring in the squad at all.
Despite Fenerbahçe’s overwhelming dominance, controlling 71% of possession and registering 27 shots to their opponents’ 10, they ultimately succumbed to defeat. The future adversaries of Lyon initially took the lead through Brazilian forward Anderson Talisca in the 13th minute (1-0). However, Gençlerbirligi mounted a comeback, with goals from Franco Tongya in the 37th minute (1-1) and Ogulcan Ülgün in the 56th minute (2-1). Fenerbahçe’s third-choice goalkeeper, Tarik Cetin, found himself in a difficult position due to the absence of the injured Mert Günok and the suspended Ederson, conceding two goals from just three shots on target faced.
