Lugano keeps believing in Fenerbahçe
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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Fenerbahçe SK remained in control of their UEFA Champions League destiny after a mixed night for the Turkish team in Group G. "Logic says we are in a bad way but it's in our hands," said Lugano following the draw at Arsenal FC.
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Hopeful
Luis Aragonés's men defended valiantly to hold Arsenal FC 0-0 in London but ended up a point further adrift at the foot of the section because of FC Porto's 2-1 victory at FC Dynamo Kyiv. Although they trail Dynamo by three points and Porto by four, Lugano is hopeful they can close the gap in their remaining games, starting with the 25 November showdown with Porto in Istanbul. "Logic says we are in a bad way but this draw today and Porto's win in Kiev means it is in our hands," Lugano told uefa.com. "If we win in Istanbul against Porto, it will be difficult for Dynamo to beat Arsenal here in England so we will then go to Kiev to play a decider. We have five or six players injured here to come back and the team will be stronger. I am really hopeful about this last match."
Made amends
The Uruguay centre-back will miss the Matchday 5 meeting with Porto after his yellow card for a foul on Robin van Persie earned him a suspension. He admitted he enjoyed a "good duel" with the Arsenal forward and was delighted to make amends for the 5-2 hammering at the London club's hands two weeks ago. "It was important for us today to erase the memory of the match in Istanbul," he said. "That was a strange match because in 15 minutes Arsenal hit us with three goals on the counterattack and that practically killed the game. It did not reflect what we could do so this was an important game for us.
'Played well at back'
"We were very attacking in the first 15 minutes over there but we did the opposite here - we waited for them to come at us and tried to hit them on the break." The Süper Lig side allowed Arsenal 63 per cent of possession yet, having survived several near things in the first half, they appeared increasingly comfortable the longer the game went on. "There were moments where we did the defensive part really well," said Lugano. "In the second half we controlled it better, we had more of the ball and came out more, so they had to worry more about us. We played well at the back and controlled their front players. But our final ball was lacking. With a little bit more composure and intelligence might have done even better."