Fener: Destination Istanbul — Terrace Edition

Words: Scott Groult

Images: Scott Groult

Istanbul, Tuesday, August 13.

Until the 92nd minute of the last game of the season against Nice at home, Lille were third in the League.

A third place finish promised a direct ticket for the most prestigious of European club competitions : The Champions League.

But on 93 minutes, Jordan Lotomba scored the equaliser for Nice to make it 2-2 at the final whistle.

This goal put Paulo Fonseca’s team in fourth place. In just a minute you can go from Champions League to two play-off matches in order to access the UCL.

So, in early August, Lille was the first French club to play an official match with the reception of Fenerbahçe.

Probably the worst opponent against who Lille could play! Fener spent more than 50 million Euros during the transfer window and José Mourinho is the new coach of the team.

©Scott Groult/ Terrace Edition. Istanbul.

« A game is not 90 minutes. »

The first leg is in Valenciennes (Lille can’t play in their own stadium because of the Olympic Games) approximatively one hour from Lille.

LOSC won this first match with a late goal of Edon Zhegrova in the 91st minute. A 2-1 victory offered a slight advantage before the hell of the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

A week later, it’s time to travel to Istanbul. It’s a three and a half hour flight from Lille to Turkey’s biggest city.

The match is at 8pm, so I have free time to visit the city, and it’s a first visit for me. With my guys of the social media team, we took the boat at Kadikoy on the Asian side to go to the neighbourhood of Galata in the European side.

Istanbul is definitively a great city for street photography. The streets are full of life. The fishermen and the young guys who jump into the Bosphorus, were good to photograph with my compact Fujifilm camera.

Four hours before the kick off, we walked around the stadium and I was surprised to see many fans already there. Fans start to sing, the shops sell scarves, jerseys, makeup in Fener’s colors. The streets are full of Yellow and Blue.

We arrived inside the stadium three hours before the kick-off and the stadium starts to fill up. Fener fans promised us a hot reception tonight!

At 8pm the match starts with a crazy atmosphere. The stadium is full, everyone is standing, singing, whistling. On my position, pitch side, I’m really impressed with the atmosphere in the stadium. I have to confess, I have never seen a build-up like this.

©Scott Groult/ Terrace Edition. Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü vs Lille Olympique Sporting Club.

The match is difficult for both teams. As in the first leg, it’s during time added on that there is a goal. In the 91st minute, Bafo Diakite concedes an own goal. The stadium trembles with happiness.

The cumulative score after the two 90 minutes are 2-2, so we go to extra-time. A few minutes later, Aïssa Mandi from LOSC receives a red card. The nightmare is here

Then in the 117th minute, after a shot from Jonathan David, a centre-back of Fener touches the ball with his hand. After a VAR check, the ref points for a penalty. Ice man David scores the penalty two minutes before the end of the match.

LOSC have qualified for the next playoff! What a match, thanks VAR!

6:30am we’re back at home after a long journey. But the most important thing is the qualification.

Next step, Slavia Prague in the last playoff.