Fenerbahce Istanbul v FC Lugano Betting Tips [30 July 2024]
Football - Champions League
30 July 2024 13:00
The match
Lugano have a second straight home game, this time in the Champions League as they host Fenerbahce on Tuesday. Meeting in the first leg of the second qualifying round, the two sides will be eyeing winning starts in Europe. Here’s our preview and a prediction of the match.
Hosts Lugano kicked off their season with a 2-1 win over Grasshopper in the Swiss league. They had to do it the hard way, coming from a goal down to win in stoppage time. As gears switch to Europe, they will hope for an easier outing.
That will need some work though, as they return to the competition they last featured in in 2001. Lugano participated in the Conference League last season and will not be entirely new to the continental scene. They, however, lost four of their six matches in the competition.
Fenerbahce had a strong run last season, finishing second in the Super Lig with 99 points. They haven't rested on their laurels and appointing Jose Mourinho signals the club’s ambition. The Turkish giants had just one loss in five preseason matches.
That came off the back of a solid finish in the league. They had finished the season unbeaten in six competitive matches and will want to take it from there. Like Lugano, they also took part in the Conference League last season, and went all the way to the quarter-finals.
Their Champions League story isn’t as impressive. When they last played in the competition, they finished without a win in five straight outings, losing three. Still, the Turkish side has better pedigree in the Champions League compared to Lugano.
Key Statistics
- Lugano have four straight losses in Europe.
- Fenerbahce have six wins in 10 matches in Europe.
- Fenerbahce are unbeaten in six competitive matches.
- Lugano have one win only in their last four competitive matches.
The bet of our experts
There’s a lot of positivity at Fenerbahce following the arrival of proven winner Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese coach will take charge competitively for the first time in this game. He took over the team on a high, and they’ve done well in preseason, giving their fans reason to be optimistic here.
Lugano didn’t have a great run in Europe last season and could find it tough against Mourinho’s team. Our prediction for Lugano v Fenerbahce is for Fenerbahce to win.
