Union is at the top in the Belgian league with 8 points more than Anderlecht, in Turkey it is between Galatasaray (75 points) and Fenerbahçe (73 points).
Coach Ismail Kartal unequivocally rejected the fact that the Turkish top club did not travel to Brussels at full speed, because it is involved in a grueling title battle in its own country.
“We want to win both competitions!”, Kartal responded fervently to a journalist who wondered whether Fenerbahce was giving the competition in their own country priority over Europe. “From day one I have always said the same thing: we want to get as far as possible in Europe.”
It is not yet clear whether Kartal will actually reinforce that message. The Turkish coach, who has a lot of wealth in his core, said he has not yet decided which players he will send onto the field against Union.
“I draft the players who I think will perform the best. I only decide after training who will play. In players who have already played a lot, fatigue and loss of concentration can occur. That is also the reason why we were eliminated from the Turkish Cup.”
“So I have to take everything into account, but we will give everything anyway. Union is a good team that is strong both offensively and defensively, but we want to return to Istanbul with a good result.”
It remains to be seen whether Kartal will grant a new starting place to striker Michy Batshuayi, who gets few chances in the competition, but started in five of the six games in the Conference League.
The Turkish coach already has some important absentees in his selection with striker Joshua King, winger Irfan Can Kahveci and defender Rodrigo Becao. Former Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci is also uncertain.
2024-03-07 20:06:00
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