Fenerbahçe’s Acun Ilıcalı: Rangers Match Is a Big Challenge, but We’re Ready

Acun Ilıcalı shared his thoughts on the Rangers draw in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 on TRT Spor.

NOT EASY, BUT A GOOD DRAW

Referring to the Rangers draw as “Not easy, but a good draw,” Acun Ilıcalı said, “I won’t say that God gave me what I wanted. Personally, I was hoping for Olympiakos, but it doesn’t matter for our coach and club.”

WE DEMOLISHED ANDERLECHT

Ilıcalı mentioned that they easily defeated Anderlecht, saying, “Our draw before Anderlecht was really difficult. After coming out of such a tough group, we saw it as an achievement for our team. We demolished Anderlecht. We haven’t seen Turkish teams beat European clubs this comfortably. We thank our coach José Mourinho and the players for keeping us away from this tension. We love them.”

CONTINUING WITH MOURINHO

Reaffirming that Mourinho will continue as Fenerbahçe’s head coach next season, Acun Ilıcalı said, “From the beginning, we’ve been watching José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe. It’s true that there’s an adaptation period. He’s a coach who adapts quickly to every team he goes to and gets the highest efficiency. Mancini wasn’t accepted as a coach here, but he went on to become a European champion. We didn’t like the two Spanish coaches; one became a European champion, and the other won the Champions League. Our president emphasized from the beginning; we might leave, but our coach stays.”

THANKS TO FENERBAHÇE

Ilıcalı highlighted that Fenerbahçe’s points in recent years played a major role in the Turkish champions’ qualification for the Champions League, saying, “We actually ended up in a tough side again. Bilbao is the number one favorite for the cup. Roma is our coach’s former team. If I had to choose, I would want Roma, because it’s our coach’s old team. As Fenerbahçe, we are the most successful team of the last 5 years in Turkey. We’ve earned the most points. Today, our country will have direct access to the Champions League, and the biggest reason for that is us. Our only wish is the cup. It’s not about looking down on teams in the cup. We believe in our team.”

I BELIEVE IN OUR FANS

As the first leg matches will be played at home, Acun Ilıcalı concluded, “I want the first leg to be at home. I trust our fans a lot because they’ve been amazing in the last few matches and are making history. We can inflict serious damage to the opponent in the first leg. If we win by 2-3 goals, we’ll have a huge advantage. When you go to the second leg with an advantage, the opponent will have to attack.”