Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce endured a difficult week, following their Europa League elimination by Rangers with a costly goalless draw against Samsunspor in the Turkish Süper Lig.
The stalemate leaves them nine points behind league leaders Galatasaray, dealing a significant blow to their title aspirations.
READ: Who is Arda Guler? The 18-year-old ‘Turkish Messi’ Wanted by Europe’s Biggest Clubs
Despite dominating the match with 28 shots and 65% possession, Fenerbahce failed to break down a resolute Samsunspor side.
The visitors, who were reduced to ten men in the closing stages, offered little attacking threat, but Mourinho’s team could not capitalise.
“We didn’t manage to score today, but it was impossible for us to lose the game because the opponent didn’t have a single shot on target,” Mourinho said after the match.
He acknowledged the physical and emotional toll of their recent Europa League exertions, noting, “We saw the effect of playing 120 minutes two days ago on some players emotionally, like Skriniar, Amrabat or Fred, but they fought until the last drop of sweat.”
Mourinho expressed frustration at his team’s missed opportunities, stating, “We created incredible situations with Szymanski, En-Nesyri, Dzeko… It was harder to fail in the positions we had than to score, but, as I said, when you don’t score a goal, you can’t win.”
Regarding Fenerbahce’s title chances, Mourinho remained pragmatic. “It’s probably going to be difficult for the leader to lose points, especially because we know that some teams against them have less motivation than they have against us. Today we played against the 3rd in the table, it looked like we were playing against a team fighting relegation. So it’s going to be very difficult. But mathematically it’s possible and while it’s mathematically possible – we think it’s possible.”
Mourinho also addressed the absence of winger Allan Saint-Maximim, dismissing claims of unfair treatment.
He said that Saint-Maximim “has not trained four days in a row. Never. For this reason or that reason, never. He’s not fit to play football. He can post as many pictures as he wants. He can even do photoshop to look like he has abdominals. Unfortunately, he doesn’t train. So when a player doesn’t train regular and consistently, he’s not fit to play.”
