Fenerbahçe knocked out of Champions League
ISTANBUL
Fenerbahçe exited the Champions League after losing 2-1 in extra time to Lille in the second leg of the third qualifying round on Aug. 13 night.
Jonathan David's penalty secured Lille a place in the next round as the French club snatched a 3-2 aggregate victory in Türkiye, marking a disappointing start to Jose Mourinho's time in charge of Fenerbahçe.
Fenerbahçe lost the first leg 2-1 last week and appeared to be going out until Bafode Diakite's late own goal sent the match to extra time.
Lille substitute Aissa Mandi was sent off on his debut for a reckless challenge on İrfan Can Kahveci, but the visiting side was awarded a penalty for a handball by Jayden Oosterwolde and David made no mistake from the spot.
Cenk Tosun then headed against the bar as Lille held on. Its reward is a meeting with Slavia Prague, which was the 4-1 aggregate winner over Union Saint-Gilloise.
Mourinho said after the match that he was happy with his side’s performance despite the loss.
"I am proud of my players, we did everything as a team today,” he said.
“My players adapted to different conditions in the match, we missed three-four clear scoring chances. Only one team deserved to win today, and the other team won the match."
The Portuguese coach implied that the Europa League could be a better fit for Fenerbahçe than the Champions League.
“We lost financially, the Champions League is an important source of income,” he said.
“But we wouldn't have won the Champions League and we wouldn't have reached the final. Maybe we could have beaten some big teams. We can do very well in the Europa League. Now we will focus on our Super League game and wait for the Europa League draw.”
Also in the Champions League third round, Ukrainian Dynamo Kiev advanced 3-1 on aggregate against Rangers and heads into a playoff tie against Salzburg, which edged FC Twente 5-4 after a 3-3 draw in the return leg in the Netherlands.
