Fenerbahçe SK have upset the odds to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time and must do so again to overcome Chelsea FC – but winger Uğur Boral is staying optimistic.
First meeting
The Turkish champions and the London club have never met in European competition, though each team boasts a striker familiar to the opposition – Chelsea's former Fenerbahçe forward Nicolas Anelka and Mateja Kežman, who moved from Stamford Bridge in 2005 and ended up replacing the Frenchman in Istanbul. Fenerbahçe will hope to prolong their perfect home run in this season's tournament when Chelsea visit on Wednesday 2 April. FC Internazionale Milano, PSV Eindhoven and PFC CSKA Moskva all fell at the Sükrü Saraçoglu Stadium in the group stage before Sevilla FC lost 3-2 in the opening leg of the first knockout round. However, Chelsea have won three UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in the last five campaigns so will have plenty of confidence when Fenerbahçe come to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday 8 April.
Premonition
Still, Uğur Boral is sounding upbeat about the prospects of a side who qualified for the knockout stage for the first time in five attempts and are contesting only their second European quarter-final, following their last-eight appearance in the 1963/64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The 25-year-old said: "Before the draw was made in Nyon, I had a feeling we were going to play Chelsea. I think the other English teams are stronger than Chelsea. We are going to do our utmost to beat Chelsea and qualify for the semi-finals. We are talented, strong and fit, so there is no reason for us to fail."
'Not easy'
Chelsea won on their last trip to Turkey, 5-0 at Galatasaray AS in 1999, and should they prevail an English finalist will be guaranteed as the winners of this tie will meet either Arsenal FC or Liverpool FC. Manager Avram Grant said: "No game in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals is easy. This team played well in the group stage – they beat Inter, they beat all the teams at home and they played very well away to Sevilla, where Arsenal had lost. Not an easy draw but our target is still the same – to succeed in the UEFA Champions League. We have never reached the final, we want to get there and this is our main target, to do it as soon as possible."
reference: "uefa.com"
No comments:
Post a Comment