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Jose Mourinho dodges blame for Fenerbahce defeat and insists Rangers UEFA Europa League tie is 'not over'
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Published 06/03/2025 at 22:15 GMT
Jose Mourinho hinted that his players might have underestimated Rangers when Fenerbahce took on the SPL side and lost on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League. The head coach added that he had prepared his team as normal for the home match, and still believed they had a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals when they travel to Ibrox for the return leg next week.
'Not my fault' - Mourinho refuses to take blame for Fenerbahce defeat
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Jose Mourinho said it was "not my fault" if his Fenerbahce players underestimated Rangers following their 3-1 home defeat in the UEFA Europa League.
Rangers took an early lead through Cyriel Dessers, but Alexander Djiku levelled on the half-hour mark.
However, a brace from Vaclav Cerny earned the Scottish side a two-goal advantage to take into next week's second leg, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Mourinho said "everything" had gone wrong for his team and thought that the defeat might have been worse had it not been for his goalkeeper’s performance.
He said: "The result is good for us. [Irfan] Egribayat made two or three fantastic saves, but the result was closer to being bigger than smaller. So for us, it was a good result."
Mourinho was asked if the team had anticipated an easier match, and he said if they had done so, it was not because of any errors on his part.
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He replied: "If they did, I didn't. If they didn't, it was not my fault. I prepared the game as always.
"I spoke a lot, we saw a lot.
"We didn't have much time to prepare for the match, but we did our normal job.
"The fact that they play five in the back, more in defence, low block, counter-attack, is something that in European football happens many, many times, especially with teams that play away, and we talked about it, it might be possible they do that.
"They put a low block, all the lines together, everyone behind, counter-attack."
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Dessers says Rangers are 'only halfway' after 'beautiful night'
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The Portuguese, however, did not think that the tie was over, and while he said his team would start at a disadvantage at Ibrox, there was still a chance for his side.
He concluded: "They deserved the result. Let's see, but for me, it is not over. I know that it's a 3-1 result, so we're losing when the game starts, but it's not over."
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