The last of three Europa League fixtures taking place in Istanbul this midweek sees Fenerbahce welcome Lyon to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Thursday night.
Jose Mourinho's side are in a perilous position down in 21st, while Lyon are already secured of a spot in the knockout round, with their goal now to finish in the top eight.
Match preview
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With seven teams in touching distance of Fenerbahce below them, the Turkish giants must ensure they avoid another home defeat on the continent.
Athletic Bilbao won in Istanbul on matchay six, inflicting just a second home Europa League defeat on Mourinho in 25 matches in this competition.
Surprisingly for a Mourinho side, Fener are yet to keep a clean sheet on the continent this season in 10 matches, with three of their five defeats across all competitions coming in Europe.
Form in 2025 has been flawless so far for Fener though, winning all four of their matches so far, scoring 12 goals in the process, including four at the weekend in a routine win over Adana Demirspor, but they still remain six points adrift of Galatasaray.
With focus now on Europe, this will be by far their toughest test of the year so far, but the hosts are unbeaten in their last five home games against French clubs.
However, one worrying omen is that Lyon were the last French team to beat them on home soil, doing so twice in 2001 and 2004, and the visitors have won all four previous clashes between the sides.
This is the only venue where Lyon have won in Turkey, failing to taste victory on their three other trips, so they will seek to continue that 100% record here, and make amends for the defeat they suffered against Fener's rivals Besiktas at home earlier in the campaign.
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Pierre Sage's men are not in the best shape ahead of this clash though, having gone three games without a win, taking just one point from Ligue 1 encounters against Toulouse and Brest, while also embarrassingly going out of the Coupe de France to fifth-tier Bourgoin Jallieu last midweek.
In Europe though, Lyon have been largely good, taking 13 points from a possible 18 so far, beating Eintracht Frankfurt on matchday six to end the German club's record-breaking unbeaten UEL run.
With a home clash against Ludogorets to come on matchday eight, Lyon will be hugely confident of taking three points there, meaning it is not do or die here in terms of claiming a place in the top eight.
It would be beneficial if Sage's men could rediscover the form that saw them win 12 games in 18 before this recent blip though, and an in-form Rayan Cherki could be pivotal in that, as no player has contributed to more goals in this competition than him (six).
The legendary Juninho Pernambucano was the last player to register as many assists (five) as Cherki has managed (four) so far in Europe this season, doing so in the 2006-07 Champions League campaign
Team News
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Mert Muldur's red card in the defeat to Athletic means the full-back will be suspended here, and fellow defenders Rodrigo Becao and Jayden Oosterwolde are out with long-term knee injuries.
First-choice goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic is a doubt again with a muscle problem, missing the Adana Demirspor win after just one game back from a previous absence, so Irfan Egribayat is set to deputise again.
Lincoln has returned from his loan spell at RB Bragantino, but he is currently injured, unregistered and set to depart the club again this month.
Lyon captain Alexandre Lacazette is a doubt after missing the clash with Toulouse over the weekend, while left-back Nicolas Tagliafico is suspended due to yellow card accumulation on the continent.
More emphasis could therefore be placed on Malick Fofana to deliver, and with four goals in the Europa League so far, he could become just the fourth teenager ever to hit the five-goal mark in the competition in a single season.
The expected exodus at Lyon has already begun given their financial troubles, with Maxence Caqueret, Jeffinho, Gift Orban and Anthony Lopes all departing the club this month, and more are set to leave.
Fenerbahce possible starting lineup:
Egribayat; Djiku, Soyuncu, Mercan; Osayi-Samuel, Fred, Szymanski, Tadic, Kostic; Dzeko, En-Nesyri
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lucas Perri; Clinton Mata, Caleta-Car, Niakhate, Abner; Veretout, Matic, Tolisso; Cherki, Mikautadze, Fofana
We say: Fenerbahce 2-2 Lyon
Fenerbahce, and Mourinho in particular, are often strong at home in Europe, but this will be a tough challenge against a Lyon side who are unbeaten away from the Groupama Stadium in Europe so far this season.
It has been a challenging week for the visitors with some very poor results and upheaval continuing off the field, but they still have the quality to compete here in the fight for a top-eight spot.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
