- Jose Mourinho took charge of Fenerbahce in his first match on Tuesday
- His team was pressured until the end by Lugano but managed to secure a victory.
- Mourinho criticised UEFA for allowing the match to be played on a synthetic pitch
Jose Mourinho has hit out at UEFA after his Fenerbahce side were given a huge scare in his first game in charge before beating Swiss side Lugano 4-3 in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier on Tuesday night.
Former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko was Fenerbahce’s hero by scoring a hat-trick but Mourinho was furious with UEFA after the governing body moved the match to Thun, 217km from Lugano, after deeming the home team’s usual stadium unsuitable for a Champions League qualifier.
This meant the match was played on a synthetic pitch, which Mourinho said was a “challenge” for his team.
“We try not to make excuses before the game, but playing quality football on a synthetic pitch is a challenge,” he said.
“The ball doesn’t move as it should, players have difficulty dribbling and the pace of the game slows down significantly. I cannot understand why UEFA allows Champions League matches to be played on synthetic surfaces.
Jose Mourinho has hit out at UEFA for forcing his team Fenerbahce to play on a synthetic pitch on Tuesday night
Despite ‘challenging’ conditions, Mourinho started life at Fenerbahce with a win
But Edin Dzeko scored a hat-trick to give Fenerbahce a 4-3 win in their Champions League qualification.
“It is also disconcerting that a good team like Lugano decided to play on a pitch like that. It was not ideal for the match.”
Mourinho took his place in the dugout for the first time since being sacked by Roma in January but saw his side get off to a nightmare start by falling behind after four minutes to Ayman El Wafi’s goal.
However, after that, Dzeko took centre stage, scoring in the space of a minute for either side to turn the result in Fenerbahce’s favour.
Lugano equalised in the 64th minute through Uran Bislimi, but Dzeko completed his hat-trick three minutes later and Ferdi Kadioglu gave the Turkish team a chance to breathe.
Milton Valenzuela pulled one back in added time, but Fenerbahce held on to ensure Mourinho got off to a winning start.
The return leg will be played next Tuesday in Turkey and Fenerbahce have the advantage as they look to book their place in the Champions League group stage.
Mourinho may have hoped for a more comfortable start at his new club, but his side were drawn into a thrilling contest before ultimately triumphing.
Mourinho criticised his team’s defence, which conceded three goals
The Portuguese coach criticised his side’s defending in his post-match press conference, while accusing Lugano of unsportsmanlike behaviour for not giving the ball back to his team before the third goal after play was stopped to allow a player to receive treatment.
“A game with seven goals is exciting for the fans, but from the coach’s point of view, conceding three goals is problematic,” Mourinho said.
‘I didn’t like conceding a goal from a set piece, the second goal was an easy shot and the third wasn’t fair play, they should have given us the ball and they didn’t.’
Fenerbahce had to work hard for the win, but emerged victorious and head into next week’s return leg in a good position to continue their European journey.