The biggest prize in European club football hangs in the balance. Fenerbahçe, led by the legendary Portuguese coach José Mourinho, is on the cusp of entering the Champions League group stage. They face Benfica tomorrow, Wednesday, in a high-stakes second-leg playoff match. Mourinho has announced his 24-man squad for the crucial visit to Lisbon, with no major players missing from the roster.
Mourinho’s selection sticks close to the core group. He kept 22 players who were part of the first-leg match sheet. That game, held in Istanbul, finished in a goalless draw, setting up a winner-takes-all clash. To bolster the team for this decisive encounter, Mourinho added two fresh faces: goalkeeper Tarik Çetin and midfielder Ismail Yüksek. This brings a bit more depth as the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The Turkish squad made its way to Lisbon earlier today. Their schedule is packed with final preparations. This evening, at 6:00 PM local time, Mourinho will hold a press conference at the Estádio da Luz. He will be joined by one of his players to give their thoughts on the upcoming match. Just half an hour later, the team will step onto the very pitch where they’ll play tomorrow for a final training session.
Benfica and Fenerbahçe will battle it out to see who earns a spot in the Champions League group stage. The match kicks off at 8:00 PM local time on Wednesday. Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic has been chosen to officiate the game.
The full roster called up for the match is:
Goalkeepers:
- Irfancan Egribayat
- Dominik Livakovic
- Tarik Çetin
Defenders:
- Mert Müldür
- Nelson Semedo
- Milan Skriniar
- Çaglar Söyüncü
- Alexander Djiku
- Yusuf Akçiçek
- Yigit Demir
- Jayden Oosterwolde
- Archie Brown
- Levent Mercan
Midfielders:
- Ismail Yüksek
- Sofyan Amrabat
- Bartug Elmaz
- Fred Rodrigues
- Sebastian Szymanski
- Cengiz Ünder
- Irfan Kahveci
Forwards:
- Oguz Aydin
- Anderson Talisca
- Youssef En-Nesyri
- Jhon Duran
