Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Champions League clash between Fenerbahce and Lugano, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Fenerbahce will try to secure a place in the third qualifying round of the 2024/25 season. Champions League if they are hosts Lugano at Tuesday evening.
Jose MourinhoThe team goes into the second leg of the second qualifying round with a narrow lead after winning the first leg in Switzerland 4-3.
Game Preview
© Imago
Mourinho started his tenure as Fenerbahce head coach with a win last week, but it was anything but an easy game as Lugano put up real resistance.
Edin Dzeko scored three goals for the Turkish giants, who led 4-2 in the final periods, but a 94th-minute goal for Lugano meant the match was in the balance going into the return leg.
Fenerbahce will not open its Turkish league season until August 17 against Göztepe. The club is currently fully focused on the Champions League and is just one game away from the third qualifying round.
The “Yellow Canaries” picked up an incredible 99 points in 38 league games last season, but they still did not win the title and were three points behind champions Galatasaray.
Fenerbahce participated in the Conference League last season and reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Olympiacos on penalties. The club has not appeared in the group stage of the Champions League since the 2008/09 season.
© Imago
Lugano also played in the Conference League last season, but failed to make it past the group stage, finishing fourth in Group D.
The Black and Whites have never played in the group stage of the Champions League and are therefore chasing history this season. However, they did feature in the group stage of the 2019-20 Europa League.
Mattia Croci-TortiThe team has already started its season in the Swiss Super League and has had a strong start, winning their first two games against Grasshoppers and Basel and are now in third place in the table.
Lugano is a three-time champion of the Swiss Super League, but has not won the title since 1949.
Last season, however, the team finished second for the first time since 2001, 12 points behind champions Young Boys, and is expected to finish high in the league again this season.
Fenerbahce Champions League form:
Lugano Champions League form:
Lugano Form (All Competitions):
Team News
© Reuters
Fenerbahce fears for the fitness of Caglar Soyuncuwho is suffering from a thigh injury, Ryan Kent is expected to miss the game due to knee problems.
As a result, coach Mourinho may be forced to make two changes compared to the first leg. Irfan Kahveci And Because Muldur will probably be named in the starting line-up for this competition.
Dzeko scored three goals in the first leg and the experienced striker will continue to play in the final third of the pitch.
As for Lugano, Congratulations Vlad, Ilya Maslarov And Lars May missed the first leg due to fitness problems and the trio are expected to be absent on Tuesday evening as well.
Head coach Croci-Torti will have been pleased with many aspects of his team’s performance in the first leg, so it would not be a surprise to see the same eleven on the field here.
Therefore, there should be a place in the centre forward position for the Argentine Ignacio Alisedawho remained goalless in the first leg, but is already well positioned for the new season.
Possible starting eleven for Fenerbahce:
Livaković; Osayi-Samuel, Muldur, Dijku, Oosterwolde; Fred, Krunic, Szymanski; Tadic, Dzeko, Kahveci
Possible starting eleven for Lugano:
Saipi; Zanotti, Papadopoulos, El Wafi, Valenzuela; Doumbia, Grgic; Bottani, Bislimi, Cimignani; Aliseda
We think: Fenerbahce 3-1 Lugano (Fenerbahce wins 7-4 on aggregate)
The first leg was a real thriller and Lugano managed to stay in the game with a third goal in injury time. However, Fenerbahce remain the big favourites and we expect the Turkish giants to secure their place in the next round without any major drama.
Click here to see a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match.
