İsmail Kartal: "We want to return to Istanbul with a good result"

Fenerbahçe will face Belgium's Union Saint-Gilloise away tomorrow in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League Round of 16. Before the match, the yellow-navy team's manager İsmail Kartal and player Michy Batshuayi spoke to members of the press at the RSC Anderlecht Stadium.

Stating that they have watched their opponent sufficiently, İsmail Kartal said, “They are a very good, complicated team. They fight well. They are a team that runs. They play in an organized manner in both defense and attack. We watched these with our team and showed and explained them to our players.

We are also a strong team. We have quality players. As I have said since the beginning of the tournament, our goal is to go as far as we can. We want to do our best in tomorrow's match and return to Istanbul with a good result from here,” he assessed.

"WE ARE PLAYING A MATCH EVERY 3 DAYS"

Stating that he will field an eleven that will win, Kartal said, "I will field an eleven to get the result we want by evaluating our squad in the best way possible and showing the opponent our best performance with players who can display the game I want here. We are playing a match every 3 days. We also have a very important match on the weekend. The most important match for us is tomorrow's match. I aim to go into tomorrow's match with the players who can get the best result. We have worked well on this," he said.

"I WILL DECIDE TOMORROW MORNING"

When asked whether Belgian striker Batshuayi would play in tomorrow's match, the yellow-navy manager replied, "Michy Batshuayi is a very emotional kid. He is a very good player. I know very well what he can give in which match. I know him well. Ultimately, both the league and European matches are very important for us. I will have a meeting with my staff after tonight's training and decide tomorrow morning."

Regarding a question about their championship goals in the Conference League and the league, İsmail Kartal replied, "We came here with a full squad. We could not bring a few of our injured players. I have said the same thing from the first day until today, and I am in the same place. We want to go as far as we can in this tournament. This means that we care about this tournament very much. Our championship race continues. We will never give up on that. We have no intention of giving up on tomorrow's match or this tournament. We will do our best."

"WE WILL DO OUR BEST"

Emphasizing that they have a strong and deep squad, İsmail Kartal said, "We have a strong and deep squad this year. We are a team made up of players with character. I always talk to all of them, I am always in communication.

There is no rule in football that you will always continue in every lane. Our opponent was also eliminated. Many teams can experience surprises and be eliminated from the tournament. In my team, the players who go to the national team will play their 50th match tomorrow. This is a very high number.

Normally, it is not easy to play a match every 3-4 days with a team that has played 50 matches. Today, there are 13 injured players in the Liverpool team. The whole football world, football men, complain about playing too many matches. We also complain about this.

Because we played too many matches, we could not concentrate our team enough that day, they were not concentrated. We were eliminated from the cup with a defeat. This does not mean that we will be bad in tomorrow's match, that we will be eliminated. Tomorrow's match can go well, we can pass this round, we can be eliminated. Our championship race continues. We will never give up on that. We have no intention of giving up on tomorrow's match or this tournament. We will do our best," he said.

News Source: İHA