Fenerbahce Badge
Fenerbahce Badge
Liverpool remain one of five clubs with a perfect record in this season’s Champions League after a dramatic 4-3 win over Villarreal at Anfield on Tuesday.
Andoni Iraola’s side came from two goals down to collect a ninth point from three games, with Alexis Mac Allister’s brace and a Florian Wirtz strike completing the turnaround.
That result keeps Liverpool third in the 36-team league-phase table, level on nine points with PSG, Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Real Betis, ahead of their next assignment: a trip to Istanbul to face Fenerbahce on November 4.
The Turkish side have taken two points from their first three matches, including a heavy 6-0 defeat at Aston Villa, and head into that fixture with injury concerns of their own.
Fenerbahce have struggled for results in Europe this season. They opened with a 1-1 home draw against Roma, lost to Aston Villa and were pegged back from two goals up to draw 2-2 with Slavia Prague.
Liverpool, by contrast, have beaten Atletico Madrid and won away at LASK. They will arrive in Istanbul looking to move closer to the knockout phase with games still to spare.
Following Tuesday’s draw with Slavia Prague, Fenerbahce confirmed two fresh injury setbacks ahead of hosting Liverpool.
The club released a statement on their official website confirming that Nathan Ake and Marco Asensio have both sustained injuries that are expected to rule them out of the match against Liverpool.
Ake picked up his injury during Fenerbahce’s 2-2 draw with Slavia Prague at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Tuesday night.
According to the club, an MRI scan and an examination by Fenerbahce’s doctor at Atasehir Medicana Hospital diagnosed the defender with a moderate strain and oedema in his right hamstring.
Fenerbahce said Ake’s treatment and rehabilitation process is expected to last approximately three weeks. This timeline rules him out of the Liverpool fixture, as well as the club’s following league-phase match against Club Brugge on November 25.
Asensio’s injury is more serious. The club confirmed that the midfielder had undergone an arthroscopic operation in Spain, under the supervision of Fenerbahce’s doctor, to treat a cartilage lesion in his left knee joint.
His recovery is expected to take approximately three months, meaning Asensio will miss the remainder of Fenerbahce’s league-phase campaign, including the games against Liverpool, Club Brugge and Porto.
Both players arrived at Fenerbahce as part of a broader squad rebuild that has also brought in Romelu Lukaku, N’Golo Kante and Ederson over the past two transfer windows, giving the Istanbul club considerable Premier League experience ahead of facing English opposition.
Ake joined from Manchester City in July after spending six seasons at the club, while Asensio moved to Fenerbahce from Paris Saint-Germain, having previously won three Champions League titles during his time at Real Madrid.
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