The Brentford fans at Old Trafford on Saturday ran through a dull, tame repertoire of songs in the away end. The home fans responded with roars and cheers and songs, but it was all pedestrian.
Thursday night, on the Asian side of Istanbul, will be anything but. Fenerbahce, managed by Jose Mourinho, host Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United side who have drawn their opening two Europa League games.
The city, Europe’s biggest, is one of the finest places to watch football on the planet. The noise, colour and passion from fans is Turkish football’s greatest asset and the ‘Welcome to Hell’ banners held up by Galatasaray fans when United visited in 1993 an 1994 weren’t far from the truth.
United’s first ever game against Fenerbahce in 1996 was equally intense. There were 30 minutes to kick off in the old Sukru Saracoglu stadium when Fenerbahce’s floodlights were switched off. The 500 United fans who had travelled to the game thought it was a power cut. It wasn’t.
Instead, the darkness displayed the burning, rolled-up newspapers, held aloft by home fans, to have maximum effect. Within seconds, the stadium was engulfed in a brilliant orange hue that gave the impression it was on fire. It was frightening and awe inspiring.
United players and fans had never seen anything like it, nor had they witnessed what was to follow when the game kicked off.
Fenerbahce’s public address announcer continued to bellow as the game was played, hollering encouragement to his team until Bobby Charlton complained to a Uefa official and the monologue ceased.
United eventually won 2-0 through goals by David Beckham and Eric Cantona, but the victory was avenged two weeks later when Fenerbahce became the first away team to win a European game at Old Trafford – it had taken 56 attempts from visitors. Elvir Bolic was the man who broke the record on a momentous night for the Turkish club.
Games between the sides – there have been six – are disproportionately significant. In the third encounter, in 2004, striker Wayne Rooney made his United debut and scored a hat-trick in a 6-2 triumph. Yet Fenerbahce had a hat-trick hero of their own in the return game, Tuncay scoring three times in a win against United, who had already qualified from the group.
The teams met for the fifth and sixth times in 2016, when Mourinho had just arrived as United manager. He was struggling in the Premier League when his side defeated Fenerbahce 4-1 at Old Trafford on October 20. There was a standing ovation for Robin van Persie from the home crowd as he scored a consolation goal. Then the Turkish side won 2-1 in Istanbul two weeks later with two wonder goals.
By then the old Sukru Saracoglu stadium where the newspapers had been lit had been knocked down and replaced by a modern, 50,000-seater stadium. Fenerbahce topped United’s group too, but United went on to win the competition and qualify for the Uefa Champions League the following season as a reward.
United need a win in this most difficult of destinations, yet have won only one of their last 10 European games, easily the worst run in the club’s storied history of continental football. And Ten Hag needs no reminding that Istanbul was where United’s Champions League hopes ended in the group stage last season after a 3-3 draw against Fenerbahce’s fierce rivals, Galatasaray.
United captain Bruno Fernandes is suspended after receiving a red card in the last game at Porto, while Fenerbahce are already eight points (with a game in hand) behind Galatasaray whom they pushed so hard last season before finishing second, with 99 points, in the league. Their line-up features former United players Fred and Sofyan Amrabat, while former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko is the talismatic captain.
Mourinho is always box office and he spoke to the media on Wednesday before the game when he said that United or Tottenham Hotspur, two of his former clubs, are favourites to win the competition.
“Maybe you think I am bluffing or playing mind games,” said the Portuguese, who took over at Fenerbahce in the summer. “They have a better team than their results show. We watch everything, there is work there and sooner or later they will succeed. Hopefully sooner and hopefully before I go back to the Premier League.” That last line was news.
None of Mourinho’s teams have ever lost at home to Manchester United.
“There is no connection with the rest,” he said. “When I played Man United I played with big teams. We are going to try and we can do it but there is a gap. Our work is to try and close that gap and go for it. And we will go for it.”
As will their fans.
