Is Fenerbahce cursed? Mourinho's team has been missing out on the championship for 10 years

Fenerbahce has an astonishing statistic: over the last 10 years, they have been second in points in the Turkish league (just one point behind Galatasaray), but since 2014, they haven't won the championship once. The club has often come close but always fallen short.

2014/15 season: İsmail Kartal becomes head coach after many years at the club. The solid squad features Bruno Alves, Dirk Kuyt, and Emmanuel Emenike. The championship battle with Galatasaray was decided two rounds before the end, in two Istanbul derbies: the "Lions" defeated Beşiktaş, while Fenerbahce faced Başakşehir. Fener was down 0-2, scored twice after the 80th minute, but then received 4 (!) red cards and lost their chances of winning the title.

2017/18 season: an even more powerful squad with Martin Škrtel, Roman Neustädter, Mathieu Valbuena, Roberto Soldado, and a young Elif Elmas. Fenerbahce again fought Galatasaray until the last round. The "Canaries" dealt with Konyaspor, while Galatasaray battled Göztepe. Only in the second half did Bafétimbi Gomis score a penalty to secure the championship for Galatasaray.

The 2020/21 season will be under the leadership of an intriguing Turkish coach, Erol Bulut, who is now coaching Cardiff. The team included Altay Bayındır, Zanka Jørgensen, Luiz Gustavo, Mesut Özil, and Enner Valencia. Three teams fought until the last round: Beşiktaş, Galatasaray, and Fenerbahce. After the first half of the final round, none of the leaders were winning. Fener snatched three points in injury time, but Galatasaray and Beşiktaş also scored in the second half, leaving the "Canaries" without the championship again.

2023/24 season: İsmail Kartal is back as head coach, and the team has an insane lineup: Dominik Livaković, Çağlar Söyüncü, Rodrigo Becão, Leonardo Bonucci, Mert Müldür, Sebastian Szymański, Dušan Tadić, Michy Batshuayi, Edin Džeko. Fenerbahce scored 99 (!) points – in any other season, that would have been enough to win the championship. But Galatasaray managed to get 102 points, once again leaving the "Canaries" without the title.

Can José Mourinho break this streak?

Published by Patrick Jane
12.08.2024