Fenerbahçe Head Coach İsmail Kartal’s statements after the Olympiacos match
Fenerbahçe was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. After the match, Fenerbahçe's head coach İsmail Kartal said, "For example, in the substitution of Fred, Fred had been injured for a long time. We wanted to protect him. We wanted to continue with a more rested player."
Fenerbahçe faced Olympiacos in the UEFA Europa Conference League. The first match of the quarter-finals ended 3-2 in favor of Olympiacos. The 120 minutes of the match in Kadıköy ended with Fenerbahçe leading 1-0, leading to penalties. Olympiacos won 3-2 on penalties, advancing to the next round.
After the match, Fenerbahçe head coach İsmail Kartal made statements.
In his statement, İsmail Kartal said, “We started the match very well in front of our magnificent fans. We scored the goal we wanted. We couldn’t convert 1-2 clear chances. The majority of the second half continued with the game dominance in our favor. In the end, we couldn’t find the second goal. When we went to extra time, we made compulsory substitutions. Losing on penalties was of course sad for us. I congratulate the team and our fans for this struggle. We deserved to advance today; we just couldn’t find the second goal.”
İSMAİL KARTAL EXPLAINED THE FRED SUBSTITUTION
Fenerbahçe’s head coach continued his words; “Szymanski got cramps, Becao got injured. For example, in the substitution of Fred, Fred had been injured for a long time. We wanted to protect him. We wanted to continue with a more rested player. Tadic, Cengiz, Bonucci, they are all quality players. Unfortunately, they missed penalties.”
