After the weekend league match against Nyíregyháza, our men's soccer team, defending champions and currently third in the UEFA Europa League, took to the field in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe, for the fifth round of the league stage. Head coach Robbie Keane sent Ferencváros onto the pitch with the following lineup: Dibusz – Cissé, Raemaekers, Szalai G. – Makreckis, Kanikovszki, Keita, Zachariassen, Cadu – Varga B., Yusuf, in front of a fantastic atmosphere and a nearly sold-out crowd.

First half

Ferencváros kicked off the match, and our team did not start badly. The game was completely even in the opening minutes, and Fradi even had the first dangerous chance in the 7th minute, but after Yusuf's pass, the home defenders cleared the ball away from Varga. Two minutes later, Fener made a run towards our goal, but Raemaekers masterfully stopped Semedo, who had made a dangerous run. In the 10th minute, Talisca had a shot that missed the target by a long way, but a few minutes later, the Brazilian attacking midfielder found our goal, and Dibusz made a confident save.

In the 19th minute, Yusuf, who was looking promising, was stopped for offside, and two minutes later, the first yellow card of the match was given to Demir for a foul near the halfway line. In the 24th minute, Asensio shot from outside the box, Dibusz caught the ball confidently again, and shortly afterwards Raemaekers crossed and saved a corner in a dangerous situation. Yusuf found himself in a good position on the other side after a good run down the left, but he was unable to get the ball to the onrushing Varga, and his shot rebounded off Ederson, who had come off his line, and went out of play.

In the 30th minute, Brown shot the ball into the side netting from close range and a sharp angle, then Asensio tried again from distance, this time much more dangerously, but Dibusz dived to save it. In the 35th minute, Aktürkoglu took a corner, and En-Nesyri rose well but headed just wide of the left post. Three minutes later, Talisca took a shot from 25 meters, but the ball went well wide of our goal.

In the 40th minute, Makreckis' long throw-in from the right caused confusion in the home side's penalty area, with two defenders missing the ball at the goal line, which ended up in front of Varga, whose flat, sharp pass was shot just wide by Yusuf, with the ball grazing the left post. In the 42nd minute, Zachariassen received a yellow card, and two minutes later, Álvarez was also cautioned for a foul on Szalai, but this time no card was given. In the last minute of regular time, Yusuf came even closer to scoring than before, curling a sensational shot from inside the box towards the bottom right corner of the goal, but the ball bounced off the post back into the field, and the defenders cleared it.

Second half

The first few minutes after the break passed without any major chances. The home team was more aggressive, but our team continued to hold its ground. We had to wait until the 52nd minute for the first attempt, but Talisca's long-range shot flew far above and wide of our goal. Three minutes later, Szalai stopped a fast counterattack in exchange for a yellow card, but the next home attack reached our penalty area, only for Keita to save with a corner, and Asensio's corner was headed wide by En-Nesyri.

In the 60th minute, there was a wave of substitutions, with the home side making three changes and our team making two: Zachariassen was replaced by Alex Tóth, while Cadu was replaced by Callum O'Dowda. Shortly afterwards, Yusuf found himself in position inside the box again, but Demir made a well-timed tackle.

In the 66th minute, however, Fener's defenders were helpless as we took the lead! Kanikovszki took a corner, which Barnabás Varga rose perfectly to head into the net (0-1)! However, we couldn't celebrate for long, as Fenerbahce equalized three minutes later: a ball curled in from the left corner of the box found Nene in the penalty area, who passed flat to Talisca, who shot into the bottom right corner past the diving Dibusz (1-1).

In the 70th minute, O'Dowda illegally stopped another home attack, resulting in a yellow card, and three minutes later, Skriniar also received a yellow card on the home side. Robbie Keane made another substitution, not for a goal, but for Yusuf, who had created several great chances, with Lenny Joseph coming on in his place, and Domenico Tedesco also made a change, bringing on Müldür for Demir. Szalai's long-range shot went just wide, then Nene came very close to scoring in the 79th minute, but his shot hit the crossbar. In the 81st minute, we used our last two substitutions, with Ötvös and Romao coming on for Keita and Kanikovszki. In the following minutes, Talisca and then Aydin had very dangerous shots, but Dibusz made great saves both times. In the 92nd minute, Durán received a red card. There were no further incidents, and the match ended 1-1. After five rounds, we have 11 points in the UEL.