Lugano coach: 'Fenerbahçe is Turkiye's Biggest'

Fenerbahçe will face Swiss team Lugano away in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round today. The match at Thun Arena will kick off at 9:30 PM local time and will be broadcast live on D-Smart and D-Smart Go.

Selcuk Sasivari, who was recently appointed assistant coach at Lugano and also serves as a video analyst for the Swiss national team, spoke to D-Smart about the upcoming match and his journey to Lugano.

Describing how he received and evaluated the offer from Lugano, Sasivari said, "The offer came 2-3 months ago while we were with the Swiss national team in Germany. To avoid disrupting our focus on the tournament, we only had a phone conversation. The Lugano Sporting Director then came to Frankfurt, and we reached an agreement. The offer was excellent, and the team has been successful in recent years. It was an interesting opportunity for me, so I accepted."

Discussing their preparations for the match, Sasivari stated, "We were thrilled to hear we would be playing against Fenerbahçe in such an important match. We know it will be a tough game, but we have prepared well. Hopefully, it will be a good match for us."

"FENERBAHÇE IS THE BIGGEST TEAM IN TURKIYE"

The 34-year-old coach, who analyzed Fenerbahçe's preseason matches, said, "We analyzed their games, including the recent matches against Strasbourg and Hull City. Mourinho is one of the best coaches in the world, and Fenerbahçe is the biggest team in Turkiye. We know it will be a tough match. They have key players like Tadic, Dzeko, Szymanski, Osayi-Samuel, and Djiku. Playing our own game and maintaining strong defense will be crucial for us."

"THE TURKISH NATIONAL TEAM WILL IMPROVE IN THE COMING YEARS"

Sasivari also shared his thoughts on the Turkish national team's performance in EURO 2024 and their future prospects. "They played very well in the last tournament. They showed a great performance in the first match and fought well against Austria. The team improved with each match. We have young players, and we are very pleased. I believe they will continue to improve positively in the coming years," he said.

"I WANT TO COACH A TEAM IN THE TURKISH LEAGUE IN THE FUTURE"

Speaking about his career goals, Sasivari emphasized that being an assistant coach is a step forward in his development. "There is a team I want to coach, and I have goals. I want to coach a team in the Turkish league one day. Hopefully, that day will come," he concluded.