Fenerbahçe bids farewell to Europe: İsmail Kartal explains why he substituted Fred

Fenerbahçe has been eliminated in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League. After the match, Fenerbahçe manager İsmail Kartal said, "Regarding the Fred substitution, for example, Fred was injured for a long time. We wanted to protect him. We wanted to continue with a more rested player."

Our only remaining representative in Europe, Fenerbahçe, faced Olympiakos at home in the UEFA Conference League quarter-final second leg. Having lost 3-2 to the Greek side in the first leg, our representative finished the match with a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal scored by İrfan Can Kahveci in the first half.

As the result did not change during extra time, the match went to penalties. While Livakovic saved 2 penalties, Fenerbahçe's European journey came to an end after Tadic, Cengiz, and Bonucci failed to convert their penalty kicks.

Following the match, Fenerbahçe manager İsmail Kartal made statements.

In his statement, İsmail Kartal said; "We started the match very well in front of our magnificent fans. We found the goal we wanted. We could not capitalize on 1 or 2 clear chances. For the majority of the second half, we maintained the upper hand in the game. Ultimately, we could not find the second goal. When it went to extra time, we had to make forced substitutions. Losing on penalties is, of course, sad for us. I congratulate our team and our fans for this effort. We deserved to advance today; we just couldn't find the second goal."

İSMAİL KARTAL EXPLAINS THE FRED SUBSTITUTION

Continuing his remarks, the Fenerbahçe manager stated; "Szymanski had cramps, and Becao had an injury. Regarding the Fred substitution, for example, Fred was injured for a long time. We wanted to protect him. We wanted to continue with a more rested player. Tadic, Cengiz, and Bonucci are all quality players. Unfortunately, they missed their penalties."

News Source: 12punto