Turkey's Galatasaray continued its awakening with a second successive victory when it defeated its German guest, Stuttgart, 2-0, on Tuesday, in Istanbul, in the fourth round of the unified group stage of the European Champions League football competition.
Russian Alexei Batrakov scored the two goals in the 12th and 15th minutes.
Galatasaray achieved its second victory after the first, over Lille of France 4-2, after two consecutive losses at the beginning of its campaign in the competition against Sporting of Portugal 1-3 and Barcelona of Spain 1-4.
It is also the fifth consecutive victory in various competitions for the leader of the Turkish League in a series in which it has reached another of six consecutive matches without a victory (one draw and five defeats).
On the other hand, Stuttgart entered ecstatic with its great victory over Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in the Bundesliga, but suffered its first loss in the competition after two wins over Norwegian Viking 3-1, and Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia 3-0, and a draw with Spain's Atletico Madrid 1-1, so its score temporarily froze at seven points in seventh place.
Portuguese Sporting regained its balance with a valuable victory over its host, Shakhtar Donetsk, 1-0, at Stamford Bridge Stadium in London, designated for the Ukrainian team’s home matches.
Italian Issa Doumbia scored the only goal of the match in the 59th minute.
Sporting compensated for its sudden loss to its guest, LASK Lens, Austria, 2-3, achieving its third victory, after the first over Galatasaray (3-1), and the second over Lens, France, 2-0.
Sporting rose to fifth place temporarily with nine points, while Shakhtar Donetsk suffered its second loss in a row after the first against Inter Milan of Italy 0-1, so its score froze at four points in eighteenth place after a draw with Dutch PSV Eindhoven (1-1) and a victory over AEK Athens (3-1).
It is Sporting's third victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in three confrontations between them so far, all with a score of 1-0.
Spaniard Andoni Iraola called on the players of his English team, Liverpool, to contain the atmosphere of an expected hostile reception for the fans of its Turkish host, Fenerbahce, on Wednesday, during the two teams’ confrontation in the fourth round of the unified group stage of the European Champions League football competition.
Iraola expects a loud and loud crowd atmosphere at the Shukri Sirajoglu Stadium in Istanbul, but he expressed his confidence in his team’s ability to deal with the hostile atmosphere and overcome the expected public pressure.
The Spanish coach believes that the key to the confrontation lies in cutting off the moral connection between the Fenerbahce players and their enthusiastic fans, by imposing the pace of the match and depriving the home team of investing in the crowd’s momentum.
Iraola said during a press conference held on Tuesday: “Tomorrow’s confrontation (Wednesday) will not be easy. It is always difficult to come to Türkiye and play matches here, so we have to be fully prepared.”
He added: “They have experienced players who know well how to deal with this tournament. We must try to break their self-confidence and limit the momentum they can derive from their fans.”
He continued: “Away matches in the Champions League are difficult, and we are well aware of that, especially in a stadium like this and in light of this crowd atmosphere. Therefore, we have to be fully mentally prepared.”
He added: “We aspire to continue the journey we started in the Champions League. “It is a good opportunity to reach the twelfth point, and then ensure that we finish the group stage within the top eight places.”
On Sunday, Liverpool lost to English champion Arsenal 0-1 in a match during which they were unable to hit a single shot on goal for the first time at home in league competitions since this statistic began being recorded in 2003.
Offensive sterility is one of the problems facing Liverpool in some periods of the current season, as the team seeks to adapt to the style of play that Iraola prefers.
But the team presented a different picture in the Champions League, achieving the full score so far, after scoring six goals against Austrian club LASK, four against Spain's Villarreal, and two goals against Spain's Atletico Madrid, compared to 11 goals in nine matches in the local league.
When asked whether he learned lessons from the attacking deficit against Arsenal, Iraola said: “It is difficult to accept the loss, but, frankly, I feel satisfied with many of the things we presented in the last match.”
He added: “I liked many things about our performance, but we still have a lot of work to do, especially on the level of effectiveness in reaching the penalty area.”
He continued: “Often, we would reach the penalty area with good numbers of players, but we were not making the appropriate moves, and we were waiting for the second balls instead of moving correctly.”
He concluded by saying: “We put pressure on Arsenal, and they defended well, but I saw a lot of positive things in our performance.”
Liverpool ranks fifth in the English Premier League, nine points behind leaders Arsenal.
Iraola's start with the team is not ideal in his first season with the team, after he took over the job to succeed the Dutchman Arne Sloat, who was dismissed from his position.
The Spanish coach commented: “I think our results in the Champions League and the English League Cup were better, but it is still too early to make comparisons and evaluate our journey this season.”
Liverpool will miss the services of its Dutch midfielder, Ryan Kravenberg, who remained in England and did not accompany the delegation to Istanbul due to injury.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho spoke about his team's match against AEK Athens in the Champions League, two days after the team's victory over Racing Santander in the league.
Mourinho spoke about the current situation of his team before the fourth match in the Champions League, and before that, Mourinho was keen to send a message to those affected by the death of Jesus de Miguel.
Mourinho said at the beginning of his speech, which was reported by the Spanish newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”: “The death of Jesus de Miguel represents a shock to the world of football, and to us who are present in the stadiums and compete daily. It's cruel and sad. All my thoughts and words go out to the player's family and friends. “I also think that this is a very difficult time for the other player who was involved in that incident.”
Turning to the sporting aspect, Mourinho stressed the importance of the match against AEK Athens, given the exceptional atmosphere in Greece, saying: “Real Madrid has only won here once in its entire history; “So it is clear that the task will be difficult.”
Regarding individual matters, the topic of Federico Valverde and his participation in the right defender position was raised again, as the Uruguayan player returns to the team in the Champions League, and is expected to occupy the defender position, a position that Mourinho confirmed was not originally planned.
The coach said: “I see Valverde as an important player for the team. Being one of Real Madrid's leaders makes him look at things from a different perspective. When you are a leader, your situation is different from if you are not, as you have a responsibility that pushes you to play in the left defender position if necessary. For this reason, I am absolutely certain that there will be no problem. In fact, the squad was built on the basis that Valverde is a midfielder, and I am confident that he will return to playing in this position again at some point, but at the moment I am very happy with his performance in the left-back position.”
In conclusion, he spoke in a joking manner, as he revealed how long it takes him to build the ideal team, saying: “I will succeed in this within 3 years.”
