Fenerbahçe lose 6-0 to Aston Villa before Slavia Prague clash

Prague Slavia's next Champions League opponent, Istanbul's Fenerbahçe, lost 6-0 to Aston Villa and now faces harsh criticism in Turkey. Slavia will play them away in the Champions League as early as next Tuesday.

Slavia themselves received their share of criticism in Czechia for the 2-0 defeat by Sabah, but after the “explosion in England” the Turkish giants are being slammed even harder. “Fenerbahçe played as if it were a friendly. The fight and the reaction to the goals conceded were like in a testimonial match. It's 3-0 and the team doesn't react at all,” noted Turkish journalist Güntekin Onay.

At 1-0 and 2-0 the Istanbul side had chances to get back into the game, but nothing was converted, and then the team completely fell apart. Aston Villa tore their opponents apart with speed and efficiency.

Coach İsmail Kartal admitted: “Neither the first nor the second half deserved such a result. But we are playing at the highest level, and there should not be such simple passing errors.” He added: “The players and I have learned a very important lesson from this. The result is unacceptable. We apologize. We need to forget it quickly and prepare for the next match.”

In Turkey, people immediately began talking about the strength and capabilities of one of the country's biggest and most famous clubs. In the first round of the Champions League, Fenerbahçe drew 1-1 at home with Roma. “Even against Roma, Fenerbahçe didn't play as well as everyone said. But they fought. And yesterday, although there were spells when things worked with the ball, nobody fought without it. Fenerbahçe have no right to play a Champions League match like a friendly,” says journalist Onay. His colleague at the publication added that the main danger is not the six goals conceded, but the need to ask the right questions: the club needs not only a strong squad but also a playing identity with which it can get through difficult moments.

Fenerbahçe's squad includes goalkeeper Ederson, defenders Milan Škriniar and Nathan Aké, midfielder Mason Greenwood and striker Romelu Lukaku. At the weekend the team has a league match against Alanyaspor, and on Tuesday it hosts Slavia. Slovakia captain Škriniar said after the rout: “You can't play like this, and you can't allow yourself such turnovers. We must get better. We need to pull together and keep working.”

How Slavia will fare against Fenerbahçe, and whether they have caught the Turkish giants at a convenient moment, will become clear as early as next week.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz