Fenerbahce v Rangers: Turkish media shellshocked by ‘unbelievable’ scenes
Barry Ferguson led Rangers to an emphatic 3-1 win over Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie on Thursday.
The Gers once again managed to carry on their impressive European run and defied the odds to beat Jose Mourinho’s men in Istanbul.
Cyriel Dessers grabbed one with Vaclav Cerny scoring a brace to take a solid two-goal lead into the home leg at Ibrox next week.
Rangers leave Turkish media in shock after win v Fenerbahce
While Rangers’ form in Europe may have been solid since the start of the season, there were very few people who expected Ferguson’s men to triumph over Fenerbahce, never mind beat them 3-1.
Turkish newspaper Sabah (6 March) shared their verdict on the tie and said the following: “Fenerbahçe were stunned by Rangers on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie as the Scottish club beat Jose Mourinho’s side 3-1 in Istanbul.”
Posta, another Turkish outlet (6 March) were also left taken aback by the performance of Rangers, singling out the industrious performance of Vaclav Cerny.
“The yellow-navy team, who started the second half taking all the risks and could not take advantage of the positions they found in the part where they were looking for an equalizer, was shocked with Cerny’s goal in the space he left behind the defence in the 81st minute.
“Fenerbahçe, who tried to reduce the difference in the remaining part, could not score a goal and left the field 3-1 defeated.”
Lastly, former Besiktas player Nihat Kahveci, while speaking to Milliyet (6 March) also gave his verdict on the game: “Fenerbahçe, who neither started the match well nor reacted, only intercepted with Maximin, Tadic and Kostic.
“It is truly unbelievable. You brought the score to 1-1 while playing badly, you could not enter the match in the first 17 minutes and watched the opponent.
“Szymanski lost all the balls he could lift in one match. These matches do not tolerate individual mistakes, I cannot understand.”
Rangers need to carry this form over into the Scottish Premiership
Rangers have held their own in the Europa League this season but when it comes to domestic competitions, they’ve not been half as good.
The Gers have lost twice to St Mirren and were embarrassed by Queen’s Park at Ibrox when they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup.
While Philippe Clement was sacked for his role, Ferguson’s arrival hasn’t seemed to change their fortunes on home soil after they suffered a defeat to Motherwell on 1 March.
| Position | Team | Points |
| 1st | Celtic | 75 |
| 2nd | Rangers | 59 |
| 3rd | Hibernian | 43 |
| 4th | Aberdeen | 42 |
If the Gers can find a way to carry this sort of performance into their domestic competitions, they’d likely be far closer to Celtic than they currently find themselves.
The 16-point gap that currently separates the two in the Scottish Premiership is far from ideal and to be quite frank, it’s been a rather dismal campaign for the Gers.
Even if they do manage to get past Mourinho’s men and hold onto their lead next week, there’s still a long way to go before they get to the final.
Indeed, only time will tell what the future holds but for now, Ferguson’s men need to figure out how they can carry their European form into the Scottish Premiership so that they can at least end their season strongly.
Because, if the Gers go into the 2025/26 season in poor form, it’s hard to see how they’d be able to get the better of Celtic and get out of their shadow due to the quality among their ranks.