Fenerbahçe will face Scottish team Rangers FC at Ibrox Stadium tomorrow in the UEFA Europa League last 16 round second leg. Before the match, Technical Director Jose Mourinho and football player Bright Osayi-Samuel answered questions at the press conference held before the match.
"We know we have another 90 minutes ahead of us"
The Portuguese coach, stating that they have another 90 minutes ahead of them, said, "We spent a week to internalize what happened in last week's match. Of course, everyone had their own conclusions. It was generally said that the reason for this result was our mistakes. However, I can say this; mistakes you make at this level will cost you matches or advance to the next round, it will cost you to lose a round. However, the obvious is still clear. We are at a disadvantage right now, we lost the first match. I don't want to think about anything that will harm our self-confidence. We just know we have another 90 minutes ahead of us and we have had good results in the last 18 matches. And we had a bad result against Rangers. We know that our team is a team that has had good results in 18 matches and we are not the team that played against Rangers in last week's match. Right now, we are only thinking about this match. We are not thinking about anything else. We will have a very difficult match in Istanbul on Sunday. Of course, we know how important it is to be champions in the league, we are aware of how important it is for us. But we must not repeat our mistakes in tomorrow's match. Because if we repeat these kinds of mistakes, the mistakes you make against a team like Rangers, a team that expects you to make mistakes both defensively and with close play, you should not make mistakes against a team that goes on counterattacks and you should not make mistakes against such teams," he said.
"We are ready for football"
Mourinho emphasized that he only has one doubt for tomorrow's match, saying, "Ibrox is an iconic stadium, known in England and Scotland. And of course the fans will not accept defensive performance here. It may be successful for them, but will they be able to accept defensive behavior? We are ready for football. We expect Rangers to play the same way. They will wait for us to make mistakes, players like Cerny and Dessers will go on counterattacks. Or will Ferguson decide to play differently, will they score the first goal beforehand, will they play very strong? I don't know, should we be patient? If we dominate, if we defend strongly, the home team will try to press, I can't say anything about that. In both cases, it was a process where we had the opportunity to work. Last week, we worked against teams that could work on defensive blocks and put high pressure. I hope we can put this performance on the field and take it to the end. The only thing I want from my players and I tell my players is; 'Come here tomorrow, we will get through this round tomorrow.' No, I would say, 'Of course we will come and give it a chance.'"
When asked about the friendly match played against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium during his time as Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho said, "If you ask me about the result of that match, I wouldn't question you. Because it was a friendly match. I have Scottish friends who have lived in England for years. Of course there are similarities with English football, but these are my best years. The match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox was a very good and beautiful match. However, we played in the final against Celtic in May 2003. The Rangers-Celtic match and no one knew me back then. I used to walk in the crowd back then, no one knew me back then.
" "One of the best places to play football"
The technical director of the yellow-navy team stated that his players will enjoy the moment in tomorrow's match and said, "I think my players will enjoy it. If there is a hostile atmosphere, they will have to win. I think it is important for them to enjoy it. "It's one of the best places to play football, the best place in England. I'm just thinking about tomorrow at the moment and I think we have a chance tomorrow night," he said.
"I think we have a chance tomorrow night"
Mourinho, who emphasized that they have a chance to advance, said, "I don't feel broken after last week's result. I'm not broken. Rangers are a good team and we have a chance to advance. I'm not broken, injured or feeling like 'I'll take revenge, let's show them'. I just think we're better. Let's also say this, we deserved to lose. That penalty could have been valid, it could have been a more mental change for us. Because we made mistakes and they evaluated our mistakes very well, turned them into opportunities, fought together, won. They deserved to win together. I don't have any bad feelings. I don't have any disappointments. We only played one match. We're focused on our league right now. We have a very good match on Sunday. I'm ready for Sunday. Right now I'm just thinking about tomorrow and I think we have a chance for tomorrow night."
"We have to do our job for tomorrow"
Mourinho, who said he has 200 matches in Europe, said, "However, I don't remember losing a match we played at home by 2 points. Winning by 2 points at home or winning by 3 points away, it's all happened, I've experienced it all. We have to do our job for tomorrow. I don't think it's not possible as long as we do our job. Everything we have makes it possible. We played a very difficult match in Istanbul. At the end of the day, they are not a very different team from us. They are constantly making mistakes, if we make the same mistakes, we deserve to be eliminated. Let's see what happens tomorrow night."
Bright Osayi-Samuel: "We are aware of how important the match is"
Yellow-navy player Bright Osayi-Samuel said, "As a team, we are aware of how important tomorrow night's match is. When we analyzed the first game, we entered a lot of positions and if we repeat this tomorrow night, if we create the same chances again, of course we know that Rangers will come against us with counterattacks, we know that they will play this game. So we should have the ball and not lose the ball. This way we can have a chance to win. I had very big injuries. I could not get playing time in some games. The coach decided this way. It was a bit disappointing for me. I really want to play for this team. My contract ends at the end of the year. I will meet with the club president about this. They said they will offer me a new contract. Let's see what happens at the end of the season, what things show."
