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Fenerbahçe aims to complete unfinished job; Manisa seeks to spring surprise
But the Tarzans know more than anyone that beating the Canaries by at least three goals to nil is almost mission impossible. However, coach Reha Kapsal and the Tarzans are in no mood to raise a white flag before the match is actually played.
“We lost the first leg, meaning we only lost a battle, but the war isn’t over yet,” Kapsal said. “At the moment, we are only thinking of victory, nothing else. I can say Fenerbahçe won the first match not through their merits, but through the horrendous mistake of our keeper Orkun [Uşak]. This time around I rest assured there will be no such mistake,” he added.
Injury crisis
The Canaries go into this match with a 2-0 advantage and so are the odds-on favorites. But the fact of the matter is that the Canaries seem to be facing a full-blown injury crisis. Seven players missed Sunday’s training at the Fenerbahçe Can Bartu facilities in İstanbul due to various injuries.
Brazil midfielder Cristian Baroni and German-born Ali Bilgin trained separately from the team while captain-playmaker Alex De Souza, defenders Fabio Bilica and Gökhan Gönül and winger Uğur Boral did not even show up. But prolific leftie Emre Belözoğlu, who was absent on Saturday, was conspicuously present on Sunday.
If most of Fener’s walking wounded do not heal before match time, that could give the Tarzans a glimmer of hope. Manisaspor can match a highly depleted Fenerbahçe side head-to-head and shoulder-to-shoulder, but a fit Fener team could be too much for them.
Moreover, the Canaries were “idle” in the league over the weekend, but nonetheless were awarded a 3-0 victory by default and three points because of their fixture against relegated Ankaraspor.
Elusive cup
The Canaries become the laughing stock whenever or wherever the Turkish Cup is mentioned because they have not lifted this elusive silverware since 1983. Fener’s German coach, Christoph Daum, has pledged to end the cup jinx this season. But we have been hearing vain pledges for the last 27 years, so we have stopped believing them until something actually happens. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.
The Manisaspor-Fenerbahçe winner on aggregate will play the victor of the other semifinal between Antalyaspor and Trabzonspor in Antalya on Wednesday. Trabzon also leads 2-0 from the first leg.
Live on TRT 1 / 20:00 Manisaspor vs. Fenerbahçe
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