Fenerbahçe and Liverpool have named their starting lineups for the UEFA Şampiyonlar Ligi match on 4 November, and the biggest change around the game is on the Fenerbahçe touchline. Emre Belözoğlu has signed a 1.5-year contract with the club, but he will watch the match from the stands rather than coach from the bench.
The game will be played at Chobani Stadyumu at 20.45 TSİ and shown live on TRT 1, with Clement Turpin as referee. Liverpool start with Alisson, Gomez, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Mac Allister, Nyoni, Munoz, Szoboszlai, Ngumoha and Barcola. Fenerbahçe answer with Ederson, Semedo, Skriniar, Oppong, Brown, İsmail, Guendouzi, Kante, İrfan Can, Greenwood and Lukaku.
The lineup announcement matters because it lands in the middle of a coaching change that was already moving fast. Fenerbahçe reached an agreement with Belözoğlu after talks with Sergio Conceiçao ran into problems, but Dirk Kuyt will be on the bench for the Liverpool match. That leaves the club with a new coach starting work the morning after the announcement and an immediate Champions League test he will have to follow from the stands.
This is also a first for Fenerbahçe. Liverpool will be the club’s first-ever opponent from England in this matchup, and the timing sharpens the significance: it will be Fenerbahçe’s 25th match against English teams in the Champions League fourth week. Before this night, Fenerbahçe had played 24 official matches against English sides, winning 6, drawing 4 and losing 14, with 18 goals scored and 48 conceded.
The history is uneven, and it explains why this fixture still carries weight without needing much embellishment. Fenerbahçe first met an English team in the 1968-1969 season against Manchester City, drawing 0-0 away before winning 2-1 at home. The club later lost both matches against Aston Villa in the 1977-1978 UEFA Cup, then faced Arsenal in the 1979-1980 UEFA Kupa Galipleri Kupası, a reminder that English opposition has usually meant a hard night for Fenerbahçe.
So the immediate story is not only the names on the team sheets. It is that Fenerbahçe enters a major Champions League night with a new coach waiting to begin, a different man on the bench, and a first meeting with Liverpool that starts before a ball is kicked.
