Lugano take on the visitors Fenerbahce in the first leg quarterfinals of UEFA Champions League qualification. The match will be played on Tuesday, July 23rd at Stockhorn Arena (Thun).
Lugano finally among the strongest again. The "Bianconeri" haven't been able to replicate their very best results – after all, they once won the Swiss championship. But that was a long time ago, and it's worth noting that their last runner-up finish was over two decades ago, in 2001. They managed to clinch second place at the very end, edging out Servette – although they lost to them in the cup final, which was decided by a lengthy penalty shootout. In any case, the club is now returning to the Champions League after a very long hiatus. Ahead of this, they started the new Swiss season with a match against Grasshopper, where the home favorites conceded first and lost the first half. However, they staged a comeback to win 2-1.
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Fenerbahçe are marking an unpleasant anniversary. It's been 10 years since their last league title. Since 2014, they only won a cup in the season before last. The 2023/2024 season was marked by a fierce race with neighboring Galatasaray, which they lost, and it was not without controversy. About half a year ago, they nearly boycotted matches and even discussed "moving" to another league from their home Super Lig. But they eventually committed to winning it, convincing Mourinho to become the head coach. However, after a series of failures, José hasn't been particularly persistent – to regain interest in his achievements, "The Special One" needs to win, but so far, without the departed Batshuayi and with few star newcomers. Less than a week before the start of the Champions League qualifiers, they loaned Saint-Maximin from Al-Ahli – but the Portuguese coach had asked for Coman and others.
This will be the first time the Istanbul giants visit these Swiss opponents. The Turks are considered the favorites. But the hosts will put up a fight against the visitors who are just coming out of their break. It won't be boring – we bet on "total over 2.5 goals scored."
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
