Sturm Graz - Fenerbahce UCL Third Qualifying Round Summary
- therookiereporters
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
After booking their European football spot for this season in Poland, Fenerbahce’s road to the top continental competition took a turn to the south towards Austria. In the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League, the Turkish Yellow Canaries went up against Sturm Graz.
The Austrian Bundesliga may not be considered one of the top leagues in Europe, but its most recent runner-up isn’t a side to underestimate. Fabio Ingolitsch’s Die Schwoazn have started the season unbeaten(3W, 1D) and opened their UCL Qualifiers account in a demolishing fashion. In the previous round, the Sturm Graz faced the Scottish Premier League runner-ups Hearts and scored 6 goals over two games without conceding. The Austrian side has a young and dynamic squad that is led by a 30-year old experienced Slovenian defensive midfielder Gorenc Stankovic, who was a Huddersfield player a decade ago. In addition to their own youngsters Hödl and Weinhandl, they brought more young reinforcements such as the Costa Rican centre-back Mitchell from Feyenoord and German striker Weiper from Mainz 05.
Another one of their new arrivals, Simon Seidl and their Polish striker Szymon Wlodarczyk are their top scorers with 2 goals for each and with their squad of various goalscorers so far, almost every set piece and attacking transitions are serious goal threats. The Blackies last participated in the first season of the League Phase in UCL and for their 6th consecutive season having European football, they want to return to the top competition.
Meanwhile, the Turkish side couldn’t show much of their shot power so far, but their defensive structure performed admirably. With Nathan Aké joining the defensive line, Fenerbahce defense seems more solid than ever and Mert Günok’s previous performance between posts is adding even more confidence at the back. However, the front is in need of a good showing of finishing. Last time out against the Polish side Górnik Zabrze, Ismail Kartal’s Canaries advanced 2-1 on aggregate, but the result of lacking clinical finishing could have been costly, if it wasn’t for the good defence. Set piece specialist Anderson Talisca was the key factor in the previous round and Mason Greenwood is expected to join him in the starting eleven in this round, after coming in late on both games against Górnik Zabrze. On their search to end the 18-years Champions League drought, the Blackies are now standing between them and a Play-Off spot.
In the rematch of the 2017/18 season’s Europa League Third Qualifying Round, here’s what happened between Sturm Graz and Fenerbahce.
First Game
Much like the previous round, Fenerbahce hosted the first leg in Istanbul and won 2-0 at home. Once again, Talisca broke the dreadlock in the 10th minute and Mason Greenwood's first Fenerbahce goal in the 45th minute determined the scoreline. The Canaries came really well-prepared to his game and showed that they learned from their issues from the season opener and also studied their opponents’ strengths well. The defence was once again stalwart for the Turkish side, especially with Aké, as he prevented Jatta lots of times, when the striker tried to use his team’s strong set piece and transition abilities.
However, losing the left-back Oosterwolde to injury was certainly not ideal, even though Archie Brown is a good enough replacement. Going to the next game from 2 goals behind isn’t the end of the world for Sturm Graz, but considering the clear chances the Canaries missed with Talisca and Aktürkoglu, the Blackies can be happy with Khudyakov’s second half performance to prevent a greater defeat. They also got lucky with their captain Stankovic, who received only a yellow card after stepping on Matteo Guendouzi’s ankle in the first half.
Second Game
The return game took place at Merkur Arena in Graz, Austria and much like the second game of the previous tie, Anderson Talisca’s penalty in the 66th minute sealed the deal for the Canaries with a 1-0 victory. Apart from his goal, the Brazilian attacker worked hard to create goal threats and make dangerous runs to the opposition box, he was also the one to force the defender to make a mistake that led to the penalty kick. The Blackies couldn’t show much presence at home in the first half on the attacking side other than Stankovic’s header and mostly held on to the saves from Daniil Khudyakov, denying both Talisca and Aktürkoglu. The Russian glove kept the form going in the second half and was arguably the best player of Sturm Graz in the game alongside the hard-working Hödl, but he couldn’t pick the right corner to make a penalty save. The Austrian side found more chances in the second half to score with Jatta and Beganovic, but once again the good defensive work of the Turkish side kept their sheet clean for the second consecutive game.
With these results, Fenerbahce went through to the UCL Play-Offs with a 3-0 win on aggregate. Anderson Talisca once again lit up the score sheet in both games, adding 2 more goals to his tally and extending his goalscoring streak to 4 games in a row. With those goals, the Brazilian also became the top scoring foreign player for Turkish teams with a total of 16 goals, breaking the record of his fellow compatriot Alex de Souza. However, he can’t be singled out as the best player of this matchup, because what got the Canaries the Play-Off spot wasn’t only his goals, but how the team performed in all the sections. Goalkeeper Mert Günok didn’t have to put in as much effort as the previous round, but showed up when his team needed his saves. Nathan Ake played almost faultlessly in both games, making the crucial interceptions to prevent Jatta from scoring many of his goal threats and his fellow defenders’ work much easier for them.
The Dutch defender showed how good of a signing he is in this tie. Hard-working midfield duo of Kante and Guendouzi also played their part by not leaving a single inch of pitch unstepped and retaining ball possession to keep the Canaries on attack build-up. After making his debut from the bench against Górnik Zabrze, Mason Greenwood didn’t waste much time making into the starting eleven and contributed with a goal that displayed his quality. The manager Ismail Kartal should also receive his flowers for how well he and his managerial team analysed Sturm Graz coming into this tie, because especially in the first leg, his team scored both goals on their opponents’ strengths. The first goal came from a build-up on the Blackies’ stronger right side of the pitch and the second one followed with a clever set-piece organisation. The third goal could have come from a quick attacking transition, if it wasn’t meant for Khudyakov’s efforts or Aktürkoglu’s struggles in decision-making. In summary, Fenerbahce created a working machine from their team for this matchup and made all the parts function properly, resulting in a victory by good teamwork.
On the other hand, the young squad of Sturm Graz got outplayed in both games and went down to the UEL Play-Offs. I wouldn’t say that they played badly, I think they kept Fenerbahce on alert in both games and found various chances to score a goal, just like it was expected of them. However, every time they got an opportunity to score, to transition into attack, to use a space left in the opposition side, there was always a Fenerbahce player one step ahead to cut them off. Jatta could have scored at least 2 goals, if it wasn’t for Ake’s perfect-timed interceptions, or Hödl and Seidl could have found more space to cut in or cross, if the Canaries’ full-backs and defensive midfielders weren’t breathing down their necks. Daniil Khudyakov did his best to prevent the gap from going even higher with great saves on both legs, but it wasn’t enough to deny Fenerbahce the 3 goals they scored. The Blackies’ play wasn’t discouraging or disappointing, the Turkish side just did it better than them and collected the harvest of their efforts. This result sent the Austrian side directly to the UEL League Phase, as they got eliminated in this round, while taking part in the “League Path”.
Long story short, the Turkish side Fenerbahce stood victorious in an exciting UCL tie against the Austrian side Sturm Graz over two games. In the Champions League Qualifier Play-Offs, the Canaries will be facing the historic French side Olympique Lyon. We’ll see in the next two weeks if Fenerbahce will manage to remove the only obstacle separating them from a long-awaited UCL League Phase appearance or settle down once again for the Europa League.
Article written by Emre Albas © Emre Albas 2026
