Fenerbahçe’s 2023-24 marketing campaign started with fireworks, excessive hopes, and the worldwide arrival of Jose Mourinho on the helm – but it surely closed in a haze of defensive disarray, derby heartbreak, and an empty trophy cupboard.
The last blow got here within the type of a surprising 4-2 defeat to already-relegated Hatayspor in Week 37, a outcome that captured the essence of a season that promised glory however delivered remorse.
Under Mourinho’s early management, Fenerbahçe seemed like a title machine, boasting the perfect protection within the Süper Lig for a lot of the primary half of the season.
But as stress mounted and the stakes grew, that defensive solidity crumbled.
In their final ten official matches, together with league and Turkish Cup video games, Fenerbahçe conceded seventeen targets – a collapse that value them each the league title and an opportunity at silverware.
During that ten-game stretch, they managed six wins, one draw, and three losses, scoring twenty-six instances however leaking targets with alarming consistency.
Galatasaray knocked them out of the Turkish Cup in Kadıköy with a 2-1 victory, Beşiktaş silenced them twice – 1-0 away and 1-0 once more at house – and even their draw, a 3-3 rollercoaster in opposition to Kayserispor, highlighted the instability on the again.
Despite beating sides like Bodrum FK, Trabzonspor, Sivasspor, Gaziantep FK, Başakşehir, and Eyüpspor, Fenerbahçe didn’t preserve a single clear sheet in any of these ten matches.
When it got here to derbies, the Canaries merely didn’t rise to the event.
In 5 heated matchups in opposition to Galatasaray and Beşiktaş throughout league and cup competitions, Fenerbahçe mustered only one level – a goalless draw with Galatasaray within the second half of the season.
Every different derby resulted in defeat.
They had been outscored 7-2 in these video games and persistently didn’t impose themselves in matches that mattered most to followers and membership historical past alike.
Defensive troubles weren’t confined to the massive video games.
Over the course of the league season, Fenerbahçe conceded in each house and away matches in opposition to eight totally different groups: Göztepe, Hatayspor, Kayserispor, Trabzonspor, Gaziantep FK, Beşiktaş, Başakşehir, and Eyüpspor.
Against Kayserispor and Hatayspor alone, they allowed 5 targets every, whereas Göztepe put 4 previous them throughout two conferences.
Source: www.dailysabah.com