Fenerbahçe at a critical turning point on the road to the Champions League

Fenerbahçe begins its battle to reach the group stages of the UEFA Champions League today. Facing Poland's Gornik Zabrze in the first leg of the second qualifying round, Fenerbahçe aims to secure an advantageous score in this home match.

The match at Chobani Stadium will kick off at 21:00, and football fans will be able to follow the game live on TV100.

The officiating team for the match comes from Lithuania. Manfredas Lukjancukas will serve as the referee, with Mangirdas Mirauskas and Aleksandras Stepanovas as assistant referees. Vilius Paulauskas will serve as the fourth official.

Fenerbahçe, which began its new season preparations at Topuk Yaylası under the management of head coach İsmail Kartal, continued its training in Austria. The yellow-navy team, which achieved clear victories of 5-0 against Admira Wacker and 4-0 against Pogon Szczecin in friendly matches, also left the pitch with a 2-1 win against LASK. Entering the season with high morale following these results, Fenerbahçe aims to take a strong first step on the road to the Champions League.

The return leg between the two teams will be played in Poland on Wednesday, July 29.

FENERBAHÇE HAS BEEN LONGING FOR THE GROUP STAGES FOR 17 YEARS

Fenerbahçe has not been able to participate in the league or group stages of Europe's most prestigious football tournament in any of the last 17 seasons. The yellow-navy team experienced its last group stage appearance in the Champions League during the 2008-09 season. To return to the group stages this season, they must overcome two more qualifying hurdles after passing Gornik Zabrze.

While the fans' excitement for the "Champions League" has been ongoing for a long time, Fenerbahçe has come close to this major goal in different periods. Having participated in the Champions League for the first time in the 1996-97 season in club history, the yellow-navy team has had the chance to compete in the group or league stages a total of six times. However, they failed to reach these stages in the 2002-03, 2006-07, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19, 2022-23, 2024-25, and 2025-26 seasons.

In the 2011-12 season, when the Istanbul representative earned the right to participate directly, they were not sent to European cups due to the match-fixing conspiracy case. Furthermore, after being eliminated in the play-off round at the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Fenerbahçe was banned from European cups for two seasons by UEFA, and despite winning the Süper Lig title during that period, they could not participate in Europe.