How Turkish press reacted to Rangers win v Fenerbahce | OneFootball

Rangers have taken a massive step towards reaching the last eight of the Europa League after beating Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce 3-1 away from Ibrox on Thursday.

Nobody expected the Gers to come up with a win against one of the in-form sides in Europe, especially considering how they fared domestically, but Rangers continue to punch above their weight in big European games.

Turkish media were stunned by the result, and they are not entirely optimistic that Rangers will collapse at Ibrox in the second leg.

The Daily Sabah writes: “Fenerbahce were stunned by Rangers on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie as the Scottish club beat Jose Mourinho’s side 3-1 in Istanbul.”

Another major tabloid, Aksam, described it as a “sad score” and came up with a headline: “Special one Rangers three.”

Fenerbahce did create several good opportunities and Jack Butland made as many as six saves on the night. But Rangers were clinical, and the scoreline could have easily been different had Cyriel Dessers’s two goals not been chalked off by VAR.

Fanatik notes that the “Scots were merciless”. They feel that winning at Ibrox will be really difficult, but not impossible.

Before the match, the Turkish press were goading that Rangers would be a piece of cake, but Fenerbahce were taught a “nice lesson”.

They wrote: “Fenerbahçe’s football turned into a mess. Rangers taught our football scholars a good lesson with the football they played.”

Milliyet, another major news outlet in Turkey, wrote that the Gers played above their capacity, and their goalkeeper made some fine saves.

The newspaper wrote: “But let’s not forget that Rangers also played way above their capacity yesterday.”

Vaclav Cerny scored a brace and Dessers added another as Rangers secured a memorable victory. The job is not done yet, but the two-goal advantage is a healthy lead, and if Rangers maintain the same level of intensity at Ibrox, they should be able to progress to the next round safely.