Fenerbahçe is stepping into the UEFA Champions League arena again after 18 years. The yellow-dark blue team will face Italy's well-established team Roma at Chobani Stadium.
Before this historic match, Uğur Boral, one of the heroes of the unforgettable Sevilla match, who was on the field in Fenerbahçe's last Champions League match, answered Spor Arena's questions.
"FENERBAHÇE'S PLACE SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE"
Fenerbahçe will appear in the Champions League again after 18 years and the first match will be against Roma in Kadıköy. First of all, what were the minuses and pluses in the last 18 years? Why was there no participation in the Champions League in terms of sport? What went right this year?
Even waiting 18 years is a great loss for the Fenerbahçe community. Because Fenerbahçe is a very big community and its place should always be the Champions League. When I was playing, we really struggled there with the weight and size of this jersey, and we personally observed how much the teams playing against us respected the Fenerbahçe jersey when they saw it.
As a former Fenerbahçe player who played against the best players in the world, I know that Fenerbahçe's place should always be the Champions League, and it should be like that.
It is truly amazing to go there after 18 years. There were huge setbacks. There are many reasons to answer the question of why he did not go, this is also related to the events taking place outside Fenerbahçe. However, Fenerbahçe also made big mistakes. Wrong staff choices, constantly restructuring, sending 10 players and recruiting 10 players every year... A lot of things. But the first priority has always been the wrong player choices. I think these mistakes occurred because the right part of the squad planning was not completed to carry the weight of the Fenerbahçe jersey, to have a sense of belonging.
"WE ACHIEVED GREAT THINGS, WE DID THE JERSEY JUSTICE"
You were on the field in Fenerbahçe's last match against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League. You were also one of the heroes of the night in the unforgettable Sevilla match of the yellow-dark blue team. In general, we would like to hear about the Champions League matches in your Fenerbahçe adventure. How did it feel to be in the Champions League with the Fenerbahçe jersey?
Yes, our last season was in the Champions League and it was a very successful period. I think we are playing a game that suits Fenerbahçe and I think we are a team that suits Fenerbahçe. However, the support of the fans was very high and even today, after 18 years, they show their respect to us for the struggles we showed there.
These are actually signs that we have achieved something great and that we have done justice to the jersey. It was obviously not easy to play there against the world's greatest players and teams with the Fenerbahçe jersey, but it was very enjoyable.
It was really fun because at that time they would ask us why we did not evaluate the offers from abroad. For me and my teammates, Fenerbahçe was already among the biggest clubs in the world. We saw Fenerbahçe that way then, and we still see it that way, but I'm talking about the situation we were in at that moment.
I think I can clearly explain how we feel when a team we see like this plays in the Champions League.
"BEŞİKTAŞ MATCH WAS DISAPPOINTING, I HOPE THE NIGHTMARE WILL BE GONE"
If we talk about the Rome match, what kind of game do you expect from Fenerbahçe? Even though the morale in the community dropped after the last Beşiktaş defeat, will the motivation for the Champions League be different?
In fact, until the Beşiktaş match, I thought that Fenerbahçe could win seriously in the home matches and somehow continue well in the Champions League, but the Beşiktaş match left me with great disappointment. I hope the coach and player group can get over that nightmare as soon as possible. If we look at Roma, they are a very dangerous team, we watched all 3 league matches they played. He won 4-0, 4-0 and it may seem like he barely won in the Atalanta match, but he played a game that dominated the entire match. They are currently playing a very dominant and well-structured team game. That's why Fenerbahçe's job is really difficult.
If I had not seen the Beşiktaş match, I would have expected a win against Roma, but after the Beşiktaş match, the players should be very careful against Roma. A difficult match awaits us.
"How should Fenerbahçe play?" As for the question, I think Roma is a team with a lot of dynamism, so I want to make Rome run in some way, what does that mean? 'It's a game that requires patient passing' I expect from Fenerbahçe. Because such teams do not like to run too much. If you agree to play in your 3rd zone, these teams will always want to attack as long as they enjoy the game. I don't think this is the right thing to do on behalf of Fenerbahçe. Frankly, I think Fenerbahçe should have the ball.
"MANAGERS, FOOTBALL PLAYERS, COACHES MUST SHOW THAT THE LONGING IS OVER"
What should we expect from Fenerbahçe in the Champions League this season?
Frankly, I was expecting 11-12 points from Fenerbahçe in the Champions League until the Beşiktaş match. The home game against Shakhtar and the match at Chelsea... I was expecting an absolute victory. The Beşiktaş match bothered us a little in this regard, it showed some things, it was not pleasant. Frankly, of course, the Fenerbahçe community and team can raise their heads and do something here. Absolute victory is the motto of the matches it plays at home, and if it cannot win in very difficult and difficult matches, I think it can still do something with the games it should not lose. The managers, players and coaches of this community must show this longing to these fans that this longing is over and that their real place is there, the Champions League.
"DOMINANT SHOULD GET BACK TO THE GAME"
Finally, with the Rome match, what can we see in Fenerbahçe, minus or plus, including the Super League?
The thing that Fenerbahçe has been lacking for years is not making the right squad choices. Not selecting the right players. Frankly, as a former Fenerbahçe football player; I cannot imagine a big team playing with 2 number 6 players. I have been commenting on these constantly for the last 2 years, now people are slowly starting to talk about them. People started talking, "Can Fenerbahçe play with two number 6 players?", "We can't go forward, we can't increase."
Somehow, the truth has a habit of coming to light, so while Fenerbahçe does some things perfectly well in squad planning, it always does some things missing. Fenerbahçe has already been getting hit from here for years. Now, I think Galatasaray is still the rival of Beşiktaş, Trabzon and Fenerbahçe. They have a habit of playing for 4 years and I think they have very serious weapons in their squad. They have players who can win a match at any time. They have players who can turn the match around. Therefore, the fact that Trabzon and Beşiktaş have now joined the race has increased the value of the league and the pleasure of watching it, while frankly making Fenerbahçe's job harder. Because being a champion no longer means just beating one team, but also beating the other 2 teams. Therefore, Fenerbahçe should continue the league with very few mistakes.
We must say that Fenerbahçe has suffered a great wound as it has already lost 2 out of 4 matches, but the league is very long. Many more things will change, Fenerbahçe from now on; It needs to establish the right squad, return to its dominant game with the right player profiles and continue in this way.
