Mourinho comments on Champions League exit

In the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, Fenerbahçe drew 1-1 at home against French side Lille. Having lost the first leg 2-1, the yellow-navies were eliminated and will continue their journey in the Europa League.

Fenerbahçe manager Jose Mourinho made assessments to the press after the match, saying, "I am always an honest person. I told my players that I am proud of them. As a team, we did everything. Tactically, emotionally. Two of our shots hit the post. We missed 3-4 clear chances. Only one team deserved to win today. We lost. The Champions League is an important support. We lost the chance to play against giant teams in the Champions League. We were never going to win the Champions League anyway. We were never going to play in the final. Maybe we could have beaten 1-2 big teams. Today, we lost that chance. We can do very good things in the Europa League. I am not finishing the sentence that starts with 'if'."

"WE WILL FOCUS ON THE SUPER LIG"

Pointing out that the absence of the injured Fred and Ferdi affected them, Mourinho said, "From now on, we will focus on the Super Lig. We will play there with the same excitement. Today, we did not have two creative players like Fred and Ferdi. It is difficult to be without one, and even more difficult to be without both. But I am proud of my players. They gave everything. If you are curious about the rest of the 'if' sentence, I invite you to watch the Roma-Sevilla Europa League final. Then you will understand the rest of the 'if'."

"I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED TO BE IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE"

Emphasizing that he has enough experience for the Champions League, Mourinho said the following:

"It might affect the club, my players, and our fans. I am a professional. It affects me not for myself, but for our club and our fans. I would have preferred to be in the Champions League. I have enough experience. We have a chance in the Europa League. We have the chance to play against teams at our own level. In terms of competition, the Europa League is better."

"WE CREATED ENOUGH CHANCES"

Expressing that the performance of the French team's goalkeeper, Chevalier, influenced the match result, the Portuguese manager said, "Usually, journalists who don't understand football focus too much on statistics. If you look at today, two of our shots hit the post. Their goalkeeper made three incredible saves. We created enough chances. Their goalkeeper, Chevalier, made consecutive saves. Therefore, we created positions to win. We played against a team that wasn't afraid. The opponent did a good job in terms of keeping the ball. They didn't have shots to score. A team that wants to win plays intensely. Despite these difficulties today, the player of the match was their goalkeeper. Even the biggest teams in the world suffer when they are missing two key players. Today, Ferdi was supposed to form triangles with Dzeko and Maximin in midfield. We had to change our dynamics."

"WE NEED TO ADAPT"

Stating that money decided the format change in UEFA, Mourinho said, "I don't know why the Europa League's new format is like this, but we need to adapt. It causes you to play matches back-to-back. You play matches in the middle of every week. I hope the same applies to our rivals in the Super Lig. We can rotate wonderfully in some positions. But this new format is a bit strange. Money decides. We have to adapt to this. The Europa League is more suitable for our level. I will do everything to inject this ambition into my players."

"I AM NOT DEMANDING ANYTHING"

Regarding a question about transfers, Mourinho concluded his remarks by saying, "Currently, two of our players are injured, and these players won't be injured all season. I can't think about transfers every time a player gets injured. I am not demanding anything. You suffer when you don't have two important players. We are working for the injured players to return as soon as possible. For me, the most important tournament is the next one. We will play a match on Saturday, and we will do this after 120 minutes. Most of my players couldn't have a pre-season. The match we will play on Saturday will be a difficult one. We will focus on the league for a few weeks. We will go on the road for two weeks, and we will try to get points in these difficult away games."

News Source: İHA