fenerbahçe suffers league defeat before lyon champions league playoff
Just three days before their crucial home leg against Lyon in the UEFA Champions League playoff, Fenerbahçe experienced a disappointing start to their domestic season, falling 1-2 to Gençlerbirligi on the opening day of the Turkish Championship.
This outcome could offer some reassurance to Olympique Lyonnais supporters as their team prepares to travel to Istanbul for the first leg of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday at 9 PM, where they will face Paulo Fonseca’s Fenerbahçe. Despite making significant changes to their starting lineup, with six alterations from the squad that faced Sturm Graz last Tuesday, the Turkish side suffered a 1-2 defeat against Gençlerbirligi in their Süper Lig debut on Saturday evening.
Fenerbahçe coach Ismail Kartal opted to rest several key players for the away fixture at the Ankara-based club. Notable names like N’Golo Kanté, Mason Greenwood, Nélson Semedo, and Kerem Aktürkoglu all started on the bench, only entering the game for the final thirty minutes. English left-back Archie Brown was entirely rested for the encounter.
Despite dominating possession with 71% and registering 27 shots to their opponents’ 10, the Yellow Canaries, Lyon’s upcoming adversaries, initially took the lead through Brazilian midfielder 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, who was playing in the absence of the injured Mert Günok and suspended Ederson, conceded two goals from just three shots on target by the opposition.
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