Preview:Fenerbahce vs Feyenoord - prediction, team news, lineups

Jose Mourinho's 2025-26 Champions League campaign could be 90 minutes away from a premature end, as Fenerbahce seek to overturn a narrow deficit against Feyenoord in the second leg of their third-round qualifier.

The Turkish titans welcome their Dutch foes to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Tuesday night following a 2-1 reverse in the first leg, a result that puts the Rotterdam side within touching distance of a clash with Nice or Benfica in the playoffs.

Match preview

By virtue of finishing a whopping 11 points behind Galatasaray in last season's Turkish Super Lig title fight, Fenerbahce were forced to watch their perennial rivals sail into the Champions League league phase while they were condemned to another preliminary period.

Mourinho's pedigree in Europe's premier tournament may not be up for debate, but the former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United boss oversaw a particularly agonising 2-1 loss in last week's first leg at De Kuip, where Fenerbahce had seemingly done enough for a draw before a cruel twist of fate.

Sofyan Amrabat came up with an 86th-minute leveller to cancel out Quinten Timber's first-half opener, but just as the clock ticked past the 90 minutes, Anis Hadj Moussa's header restored Feyenoord's slender lead in front of the Rotterdam faithful.

Recent history is not on Fenerbahce's side either, as the Super Lig powerhouses were in this exact situation last year, suffering a 2-1 loss to Lille in the first leg of their Champions League third-round qualifier before going down 3-2 on aggregate.

However, thanks to the postponement of their top-flight opener with Alanyaspor over the weekend, Mourinho's men have had ample time to recuperate for Tuesday's crucial tussle, which they enter on a five-match unbeaten streak in Champions League home games.

Similarly to their upcoming hosts, Feyenoord found themselves well off the pace in the Eredivisie title race in 2024-25, settling for a third-placed finish as PSV Eindhoven pipped Ajax to the coveted crown.

However, the side led by former lethal left-footer Robin van Persie have started as they mean to go on both continentally and domestically, following up last week's first-leg success with a straightforward Eredivisie victory.

Hosting NAC Breda on Saturday, Feyenoord strolled to a 2-0 triumph courtesy of Sem Steijn's third-minute free kick and Ayase Ueda's effort, although away days in the Champions League are not exactly their forte.

Indeed, the Dutch side failed to win any of their final four UCL games on the road in 2024-25, and their last clean sheet in any Champions League away match came all the way back in 2002 - against Newcastle United.

Feyenoord were also slain 1-0 by Fenerbahce the last time they travelled to their Turkish foes' base in 2016 - succumbing to an Emmanuel Emenike winner in the Europa League - but such a scoreline will not do for Mourinho's men if they are to avoid the lottery of penalties here.

Fenerbahce Champions League form:

Feyenoord Champions League form:

Feyenoord form (all competitions):

Team News

Fenerbahce came out of the first leg with no new concerns on the injury front, but several notable names will be missing from the ranks, either through fitness problems or ineligibility.

ACL victim Rodrigo Becao is among the absentees for Mourinho, who also did not select Diego Carlos, Cengiz Under or Emre Mor for the Champions League qualifiers, but he can still call upon some striking alternatives.

Nelson Semedo and Jhon Duran should put their names into the hat for a start here after being restricted to substitute outings in the first leg, while newly-signed Milan Skriniar wears the captain's armband in defence.

On Feyenoord's end, Van Persie is currently dealing with a debilitating defensive crisis, as centre-backs Thomas Beelen (leg fracture), Gernot Trauner (Achilles), Jeremy Mitchell (muscle) and Antef Tsoungui (ACL) are all missing, as is left-back Gijs Smal (unspecified).

As a result, new signings Anel Ahmedhodzic and Tsuyoshi Watanabe will pair up in the heart of defence, but the visiting boss has far fewer concerns further up the field.

Former Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Jakub Moder is dealing with an unspecified problem, but Timber and Hwang In-beom's places in the engine room were never up for debate.

Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:

Egribayat; Muldur, Skriniar, Oosterwolde; Semedo, Fred, Szymanski, Amrabat, Brown; Duran, En-Nesyri

Feyenoord possible starting lineup:

Wellenreuther; Lotomba, Watanabe, Ahmedhodzic, Bos; Hwang, Timber; Moussa, Steijn, Sauer; Ueda

We say: Fenerbahce 2-2 Feyenoord (Feyenoord win 4-3 on aggregate)

While there may be more jellied legs on Feyenoord's end - especially in defence - Van Persie was able to rotate his resources further up the pitch at the weekend, and the Pride of South can more than make up for rearguard absences in the final third.

Given the visitors' injury crisis at the back, a goal-fest may very well be on the cards, but we have faith in Feyenoord to come away with the draw required and condemn Fenerbahce to Europa League football.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.