Jose Mourinho compares Real Madrid and Fenerbahçe

In the second week of the UEFA Europa League, Fenerbahçe will face Twente away tomorrow at 22:00 TSI. Having completed their preparations in Istanbul and arriving in the Netherlands today, the yellow-navy team's manager Jose Mourinho and player Jayden Oosterwolde made statements at a press conference.

Sharing his views on the Twente team, Mourinho said, "As for their strengths, I can say that they are a team. They play as a team, and you can see the work they have put in behind that. They defend well, they press well in the front, and they know how to drop back and play in a compact and organized manner when necessary. Like every Dutch team, they enjoy playing with the ball.

They want to have possession. At the same time, they can be very dangerous on counterattacks. The mobility of their forward players is good. I prefer not to touch on their weaknesses. We have been preparing for this match since Sunday, we had a few days. We couldn't do high-intensity work because we had played a tough match in the league. But at least we know what we need to do tactically," he assessed.

"I HAVE NO REGRETS"

Stating that he is happy to be at Fenerbahçe and in Turkey, Jose Mourinho said, "I do not separate the other clubs I have worked at as a higher platform. Every club has goals. When you come to a club, you embrace that club's projects and dreams. I would never say that winning the Spanish League with Real Madrid is more important than winning the Turkish League with Fenerbahçe. There is no difference. Fenerbahçe is a very big club, and Turkey is a wonderful country. There are some things in Turkish football that I am still trying to learn. There are things I have to live with and accept because I cannot change them. I have no regrets about my decision to come here. I am completely focused on what I want to do with the club," he said.

"I FEEL THE SAME FIRE AND AMBITION INSIDE ME"

Stating that he has the same ambition and feelings as when he won the Champions League with Porto 20 years ago, Mourinho said, "I won the Champions League with Porto 20 years ago, and I won the Conference League with Roma 2 years ago. I lost the Europa League with Roma 1 year ago, but when I say lost; of course, I still have the feelings and ambitions I had 20 years ago. Fenerbahçe is also a club with ambitions. The situations we are in here to reach our goals are very difficult.

The Turkish people understand very well what I mean. I still feel the same fire and ambition inside me. I still get yellow cards. Other than my physical appearance, not much has changed for me. Fenerbahçe wants to win tournaments. We have good opponents in the league. There are difficult conditions, but I am not the right person to talk about these difficult conditions because I am new here.

They know better because they have been here their whole lives. Similarly, there are teams of a very high level in the Europa League. There are both good and bad things in this new strange format. One of the good things is that teams from the Champions League no longer come down. The teams that start this tournament finish this tournament. When we look at the team names, there are really difficult and potential-filled teams. We have 7 matches left. We hope to pass the first stage. After moving to the second stage, we will start thinking about the third stage. Right now, I don't know how many points are needed in this new format. The only thing I know is that we have 3 points in our pocket right now. We have 7 more matches ahead of us, and we need to get points from these matches as well. I hope we achieve this starting from tomorrow," he said.

"I BELIEVE IN THE HONESTY OF PEOPLE"

When reminded that the VAR referee for tomorrow's match is Stuart Edward, who was the VAR referee for the Roma-Sevilla final, the Portuguese manager said, "I think this is a normal appointment because UEFA determines these decisions according to the appointments made by Mr. Rosetti and De Cupers. There is no problem for me. I believe in their honesty. I believe in the honesty of people who are in football. They had a bad day on the day they officiated the final. They made a decision that affected the history of a club, a coach, players, and fans; I don't forget that, but I believe in their honesty. It's just that they had a bad day that day. I know they will do their best tomorrow as well. I have no problem with this," he said.

"DUTCH TEAMS ARE ALWAYS DIFFICULT"

When reminded of his winning statistics against Dutch teams, Jose Mourinho said, "I won those matches against Dutch teams in the past because I was managing good teams. When I was at Real Madrid, I played against Ajax 4 times. You expect to win in such a matchup. This has nothing to do with me or it being Dutch teams. It only has to do with the potential of the teams. Those matchups were also difficult, it wasn't easy. Only one Ajax-Real Madrid match and the Manchester United-Ajax final were easy.

Other than that, all the ones I have played were difficult. I just recently lost to Feyenoord. I think tomorrow will be difficult too. I like to win, I don't like to lose. Dutch teams are always difficult. They are very organized, they play very well, they are at a very high level technically, they are high quality, especially when they play at home with fan support, these matches are very difficult. This year we were matched with both Twente and AZ in the group. We will play both of them away.

If you ask me, 'Are you happy with this situation?', no, I am not. Even the fact that the airport is 1 hour away from here is a difficulty for us. Dutch teams also have a pragmatism. Our opponent tomorrow knows how to defend very well, they know how to drop back when necessary. They know how to wait in a compact way and go on counterattacks. They have a certain dose of pragmatism. They do this well. They finished the league in third place last year. They were matched with Slavia Prague, and the Slavia Prague team is also much better than people think. I can say that our opponent tomorrow is a very good team," he concluded.