İsmail Kartal makes statements after missing out on the championship

Fenerbahçe manager İsmail Kartal made statements after his team closed out the Süper Lig season with a 6-0 victory over İstanbulspor.

Speaking at the press conference held after the match played at Ülker Stadium, Kartal stated that the result was not what they had hoped for.

Emphasizing that he and his team had done their best since the beginning of the season, Kartal said, "We aimed to become champions by beating İstanbulspor and waiting for our rival to lose. The result was not what we wanted, but we did our best. Unfortunately, we could not overcome the unseen hidden forces off the pitch. We could not overcome the invisible hands off the pitch. The Fenerbahçe community will never forget the 99 goals and 99 points that were deserved. This evening, all the fans showed us by appreciating who the real champion is. The entire public saw that we are the champions of hearts in the eyes of our community. I would like to thank my players very much for the struggle they put up," he said.

Explaining that they are very sad because they could not reach the championship they wanted so much, Kartal continued as follows:

"Why we could not become champions was clearly registered last week. How the championship we deserved was taken from our hands was revealed last week as well. Our fans congratulated our players, the champions of hearts. I thank them all very much for their support. It is very clear what happened regarding our loss of the championship. Why did the fans applaud us today? Why did we draw in Sivas, the penalty given. For example, I took Dzeko out today because he said, 'I am injured, I am sick, can you take me out?' I do not think the championship was lost due to mistakes I made. I do not think I made mistakes that would affect the result."

Stating that he does not know whether he will be at the helm of the team next year, Kartal said, "Whatever is best for me and for Fenerbahçe will happen. Every time I came here, I played good football, achieved record points, and shattered statistics. I wish we could have been champions, but unfortunately, as Jesus said last year, unfortunately, we cannot overcome some things here. I am very sad that we could not become champions, of course. I do not have any calculations in my mind regarding staying or leaving the club. Our president and our management will evaluate these. I apologize to our fans very much for not being able to become champions," he concluded.