A 2–0 lead thrown away
Fenerbahçe 2–2 Slavia Prague on Tuesday, and three Champions League matchdays without a win (3). You were two up at home and walked away with one point. Yeniasir's word for it: the team froze (3). That is the fourth competitive game in a row without a clean sheet.
The derby is now Kartal's job interview
İsmail Kartal's future at the club hinges on Monday's match at Galatasaray, 19:30 CET (2) (4) (5). The Slavia draw has put the manager squarely in the firing line, and a first replacement candidate has already been floated (2) (4). You are third on 16 points from eight games with a +16 goal difference, so this is not a league crisis. It is a Champions League one, and it is landing on him.
Asensio out three months, Ake three weeks
Worst possible timing. Marco Asensio will be out at least three months, and Ake is gone for three weeks with a strain and swelling in his right hamstring, picked up against Slavia Prague (6). Asensio did not hide it: "The pain would not let me play," he wrote, confirming surgery and a stronger return (8). Ake misses the derby. So does Asensio.
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Galatasaray are flying into the derby
Lille 2–4 Galatasaray on Wednesday, their first points of this Champions League campaign (9) (12). Okan Buruk said the result gives them morale before the Fenerbahçe derby (12) (9). That is your opponent's mood swinging up while yours is stuck on a draw.
Brahim Diaz talks opened
Fenerbahçe have started discussions with Brahim Diaz's people over a January move, with Juventus and Roma also circling (10). The Real Madrid winger's contract runs to June and he is a Morocco international. Nothing signed.
Ethan Mbappé offered
Ethan Mbappé has been offered to Fenerbahçe, with his Lille contract up at the end of the season (11). He is 19, and fits the club's under-23 recruitment policy (11). A free transfer is on the table.
What comes next
Galatasaray away on Monday, then Göztepe at home on Saturday, October 31, then Liverpool at home in the Champions League on Wednesday, November 4.
