We sat in the press box near fans and witnessed a lot of interesting facts – before the start of the match a child was sitting near us. He was holding a banner: “Manchester United, welcome to the hell”. Sukru Saracoglu was a real hell for the English club.
We went to the stadium 6 hours before the start of the match. Unlike the fans of Besiktas, there were more fans of Fenerbahce in the street. Some were drinking beer, some were sitting in the bars, some were sitting in the parks and taking photos.
3 hours before the start of the match about 10 fans started quarreling. Later, we noticed fans who were singing songs and cursing Besiktas, Galatasaray and other Turkish clubs.
Gradually, we entered the stadium where everything is ideal – Sukru Saracoglu is 10 years old and hosted the UEFA Cup Final in 2009. There is a Georgian sword in the entrance. It is Mamuka Kvaratskhelia’s gif to Fenerbahce.
The tribunes were crowded. Only the tribune for the guests was empty. There were a few fans of Manchester United.
At the beginning of the match Moussa Sow scored a goal. Nobody expected goal at that moment.
During the match the whole stadium were chanting the name of Moussa Sow. After the match Sow was thanking the fans and they were still chanting “Moussa, Moussa, Moussa”.
The match continued in aggressive way which made fans angry and started shouting FUCK MANCHESTER.
In the middle of the first half Paul Pogba got injured and Zlatan Ibrahimovic replaced him. The Swedish player became the main target of the tribunes. The fans were booing him.
Zlatan did nothing special. He wasted time in talking and quarreling. At the beginning of the second half he committed a foul on Mehmet Topal. This free kick ended with goal.
When Serb Milorac Mazic finished the match, the tribunes were filled with joy. At the post-match press conference Jose Mourinho looked disappointed but stated nothing was alarming.
It was very quiet outside the stadium. The fans were going home. Some were singing and some were discussing standing.
In short, Fenerbahce – Manchester United turned out to be very interesting match. We attended two matches in Istanbul and one thing is for sure: this city lives with football.
Giorgi Melkadze, Sopo Erkvania, specially for worldsport.ge from Istanbul
