Jose Mourinho will renew acquaintances with Manchester United on Thursday night when his Fenerbahce outfit welcomes the Red Devils to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium for a Europa League clash.
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The two teams meet for the first time since November 2016, when Mourinho was in charge of Man United and suffered a 2-1 away defeat to the Turkish giants in the Europa League group stage.
Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund celebrates scoring with Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes on October 19, 2024.
After hitting out at sections of the media for “creating stories and fairytales” about his future as Man United manager, Erik ten Hag steered the Red Devils to a much-needed 2-1 home victory against Brentford in the Premier League last weekend, ending a five-game winless run.
Man United were trailing at the interval courtesy of Ethan Pinnock’s injury-time header, but Alejandro Garnacho restored parity with a fine volley just 89 seconds after the break, before Rasmus Hojlund calmly chipped in his first Premier League goal of the season to secure maximum points.
Sitting 12th in the table and still six points behind the top four after eight matches, Ten Hag has acknowledged that “the pressure is always there” when managing a club the size of Man United, and his team “must build” on their second-half display against Brentford if they wish to put together a positive run of form in the coming weeks.
Before travelling to West Ham United in their next Premier League game on Sunday, Man United will shift their focus to the Europa League and will endeavour to claim their first win in this season’s competition, having drawn their opening two matches against FC Twente and Porto, rescuing a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with the latter three weeks ago.
Man United have had little success on the continent in recent years, having won only one of their last 10 European matches (D4 L5) and have failed to win any of their last five, last enduring a longer run without victory between 1980 and 1983 (six).
Since taking the reins of Fenerbahce in June, Mourinho has won eight, drawn four, and lost just two of his opening 14 games across all competitions. His team enters Thursday’s contest having not lost any of their last four matches.
The Yellow Canaries were denied maximum points in last weekend’s Turkish Super Lig clash with Samsunspor, though, after they conceded an 88th-minute goal to draw 2-2 and subsequently lose more ground on reigning champions Galatasaray at the summit.
Mourinho, who was left frustrated with post-match questions from the media and urged reporters to ‘stop crying’ over his selection decisions, sees his Fenerbahce side sitting fourth in the Super Lig standings. They have slipped eight points behind table-toppers Galatasaray, although they do have a game in hand.
Fenerbahce, who reached the Conference League quarter-finals last season, have made a solid start to their Europa League campaign this term, collecting four points from their opening two games after following up a 2-1 win over Union SG with a 1-1 draw with FC Twente.
The Yellow Canaries will fancy their chances of success on Thursday as they boast a seven-game unbeaten home run in the Europa League (W4 D3) and have won their last two home encounters with Man United.
However, Mourinho has only come out on top in two of his last 17 games against teams he has previously managed (D4 L11). One of those wins was a 6-1 triumph at Man United in charge of Tottenham Hotspur in October 2020.
Team News
Fenerbahce left-back Jayden Oosterwolde ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Samsunspor last weekend and will join Cengiz Under (groin), Ismail Yuksek (shoulder), Bright Osayi-Samuel (foot), and Irfan Can Egribayat (muscle) in the treatment room. Filip Kostic, Oguz Aydin, Bartug Elmaz, and Levent Mercan have all been left out of the club’s Europa League squad.
In the absence of Oosterwolde, Mourinho could be forced to select either Mert Muldur or ex-Man United midfielder Fred at left-back, with Alexander Djiku potentially moving over to right-back.
If Fred is not deployed at left-back, he could operate in a deep-lying midfield role alongside another former Red Devils man, Sofyan Amrabat. Allan Saint-Maximin could replace Kostic on the left flank as Youssef En-Nesyri and ex-Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko battle for a place up front.
As for Man United, Leny Yoro (foot) has returned to training but remains sidelined along with Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire (both muscle), Luke Shaw (calf), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Mason Mount (knock), and Toby Collyer (unspecified).
Casemiro will be assessed after coming off against Brentford with an apparent calf issue. If he is fit to feature, then he could start in midfield alongside Manuel Ugarte, with Christian Eriksen moving into the number 10 role to fill the void left behind by suspended captain Bruno Fernandes.
Noussair Mazraoui is in contention to return at right-back, which could therefore see Diogo Dalot move over to left-back, while Joshua Zirkzee will continue to battle with Hojlund for a start as the central striker.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup: Livakovic; Djiku, Soyuncu, Becao, Muldur; Amrabat, Fred; Tadic, Szymanski, Saint-Maximin; En-Nesyri
Manchester United possible starting lineup: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Ugarte, Casemiro; Garnacho, Eriksen, Rashford; Hojlund
A closely-fought contest between two teams who will not be at full strength could be in store on Thursday, and goals can also be expected considering the inconsistent defensive performances of both clubs in recent matches.
Man United have not won any of their last four European away games despite scoring three goals on each occasion. With that in mind, we can see Mourinho’s men holding firm to claim at least a share of the spoils in Istanbul.
