After four years of absence, Jose Mourinho is finally playing the Champions League. He is still away from the group stages thou, but he is in the qualification round at least. After a 4-0 defeat from Leipzig with Tottenham in 2020, the famous Portuguese tactician played only in Europa and Conference League with Tottenham and Roma (where he even won the Conference League in 2022), but he always craved to go back to the UEFA‘s elite competition. And he is on the right track (at the moment) with his new club – Turkish giant Fenerbahce. Mourinho‘s team won in Switzerland against Lugano in the second round of the Champions League qualifications but the Portuguese needed help from former Premier League players in a 4-3 win. 🇧🇦 Edin Džeko vs FC Lugano🇨🇭⏱ 80’ minutes⚽️ 3 goals👟 3 shots on target🧠 85% passing accuracy🎯 1/1 long ball🗣️ He says “I’M HERE, NO MATTER WHAT!” 🇹🇷🇧🇦@EdDzeko MOTM! 🔥 #Fenerbahçe #FCLugano #UCL pic.twitter.com/MGcD7AUnEU— Turk Scout (@ScouTurk) July 23, 2024 Mourinho arrived in Turkey at the beginning of June and is still settling and choosing new players but had to play in the qualifying match already. So, he relied on Premier League veterans Fred (Manchester United), Dušan Tadić (Southampton) and Edin Džeko (Manchester City), who stopped the potential embarrassment, especially after the Turks allowed the goal after only three minutes of play. The hosts maintained that lead for quite a while, but as the match progressed, the far superior individual quality of the visitors began to show. Fenerbahce took the initiative, started creating chances, and eventually started scoring, beginning with a penalty. At one point, Lugano had a 2-2 draw—a result they would probably have gladly accepted if they had known what was to follow—but in the end, some hope still exists for the Swiss team. Minimal, but still, it exists. And it’s certainly much better than if the score had remained 2-4. Fener increased their lead with two goals in the span of six minutes (Džeko 67, Kadioglu 74), while the final score of 3-4 was set by Argentine Milton Valenzuela in the fourth minute of stoppage time.💎 Kaptan Dzeko hat-trick yapıyor! pic.twitter.com/lOibQraeB4— Fenerbahçe SK (@Fenerbahce) July 23, 2024 Dušan Tadić has shown that even at the age of 36, he can play at the highest level and lead a team with big ambitions like Fenerbahçe. The former Serbian national team player won a penalty for 1-1 in the final moments of the first half, and then at the very start of the second half, he beautifully held onto the ball in a crowded area, waited for Edin Džeko to appear, and served him the ball on a platter for 1-2. The man of the match award goes to the international from Bosnia and Herzegovina because he delivered a hat-trick against the Swiss team. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8228703##
