Twente is the only team that has beaten the Canaries in the group, as it won 2-1 in İstanbul on Matchday 1, but Fenerbahçe has won all its three matches since that opening defeat on Sept. 17. And so a Fener victory over the Dutch side this evening would settle the score.Going into today’s Matchday 5 encounter, the Canaries top the group with nine points from four matches. Twente is second with seven points. Hence a draw will be enough to see the Canaries through to the Round of 32 with only two matches to go --- including this evening’s games.
All is not well with Fener
The fact of the matter is, though, that the Canaries, despite their poor domestic form, cannot afford to slip or stumble because that would mean Twente wresting top spot in the group. And if Albanian side FC Sheriff, with four points, beats cellar-dweller Steaua Bucharest at home, that could make Canaries’ job even more difficult.
The Fener Yellow Canaries still lead the domestic 17-team Turkcell Super League with 31 points in 14 outings despite losing 3-1 at home to struggling Kasımpaşa on Saturday, a result that sent shock waves rippling through the Turkish soccer scene. The Canaries now maintain a meager one point lead over rampaging defending champion Beşiktaş -- a team the Canaries led by as many as 15 points in week 8.
Twente Enschede, on the other hand, won 3-1 at Willem II Tilburg on Saturday for its 10th straight win this season to regain the top spot in the Dutch League, and tops the 18-team Dutch Eredivisie with 41 points from 15 matches -- two more than famous PSV Eindhoven.
To beat the Dutchmen this evening the Canaries will have to perform much better that they did against Kasımpaşa on Saturday. This means the strike force masterminded by misfiring Turkey striker Şemih Şentürk and Spain forward Dani Gonzalez Güiza must relearn the art of scoring.
Brazilian captain-playmaker Alex De Souza must electrify his teammates and stop playing at pedestrian pace; defenders Diego Lugano and Gökhan Gönül must wake up from their trance and do what has to be done.
‘Don’t cry for us’
“We could not get into scoring positions,” Fener’s German coach Christoph Daum lamented after Saturday’s debacle against Paşa.
And we say, “Don’t cry for us, O Daum.” Make the Canaries get into scoring positions and obtain the desired results because that’s why you are there and that’s what you are paid millions of euros to do.
Fener’s legendary Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos has made it explicitly clear that he will be returning to his hometown during the winter break in three weeks’ time. And Carlos reportedly told Daum mockingly after Saturday’s defeat that the German coach may very leave Fenerbahçe before him. Simply put, the clean-shaven Carlos meant that Daum will be sacked sooner rather than later.
This gives added importance to this evening’s match because the outcome may as well determine the fate of Daum at Fenerbahçe. But the Canaries can take heart because they have won their last three UEFA Europa League away encounters without conceding a goal.
Nonetheless, they should leave nothing to chance against Twente. The Canaries should beat the Dutchmen, or at least draw, and save themselves and Herr Daum from further media bashing.
The top two teams from each UEFA Europa League group will join the third-placed sides from the eight UEFA Champions League groups in the Round of 32 in the spring.
Other UEFA Europa League fixtures today
FC Timisoara vs. Ajax and Anderlecht vs. Dinamo Zagreb in Group A; Valencia CF vs. Lille Metropole and Slavia Prague vs. Genoa in Group B; Celtic vs. Happoel Tel-Aviv and Hamburg vs. Rapid Wien in Group C; Salzburg vs. Lazio and Levski Sofia vs. Villarreal in Group G; FC BATE Borisov vs. Benfica and AEK Athens vs. Everton in Group I.
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