Lyon In The First Leg Of The UEFA Champions League Play-off Round Today, With The Turkish Side Aiming To Take An Advantage Into The Return

We studied our lesson well with our players. It was a very good match at Champions League level. I don't think there is a favorite in this match; the favorite tonight was the Fenerbahçe fans, and they showed that, Kartal said after the game.

"We started the match well. My players fought with tactical discipline. We created good chances.

We played knowing how to play in the Champions League. We could have won. I congratulate my players for fighting with good play.

Kartal noted that although they did not get an advantageous score, the match ended 1-1. "We have only one match ahead of us to qualify for the Champions League. There, hopefully, we want to win with a good game and enter the Champions League and make our fans happy. The coach also addressed the team's physical condition, saying they played a match 2.5 days ago and 6-7 players featured in that game.

"It's not easy to start and finish these matches at a high tempo. You can't always press high. They have athletic players on the wings.

We planned this from start to finish and played according to our plans. Regarding Marco Asensio, Kartal said, "Asensio is also our player. All our players are very valuable.

Today we played with the players who needed to play according to the opponent. Asensio was already in our plans for this match. You can concede goals like this in these types of matches.

The opponent is a good and organized team. It would have been better if we hadn't conceded, but we did. The team reacted well.

Nene's chance towards the end of the match could have been a goal. In the end, the match ended in a draw. But you also have to consider the opponent.

If you leave space behind while pressing high, the opponent's midfield and attack are athletic... To not give them that opportunity, we waited compact in the center, went at them with the balls we won, and thought about scoring with set attacks. We didn't want to leave them space behind. We pressed high from time to time, but there's no rule that you have to press high all the time.

He also mentioned the heavy pitch and player fatigue: We have the physical capacity to play two matches. If this increases, we may not have it. In defense, Ake and Milan played their second match in three days.

The pitch today is not as it looks; it's a heavy pitch. The risk of injury can increase.