Meet probably the best team in Europe! Stacked with Premier League cancellations from Man United, Chelsea, Southampton and Bournemouth… this club has won ALL 18 games this season
Nine out of nine wins in the league and a flawless nine out of nine wins in Europe.
This is the brilliant start to the season for Turkish club Fenerbahce, who looked invincible in the first few weeks.
The sensational run continued on Thursday evening as they took control of their Europa Conference League group with a 3-1 win over Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad.
That followed earlier group stage victories over Denmark’s Nordsjaelland and Spartak Trnava of Slovakia, but even more impressively, Fenerbahce had already fought through three qualifying rounds to get this far.
They beat Zimbru Chisinau from Moldova, Maribor from Slovenia and FC Twente from the Netherlands, winning all six games.
Fenerbahce celebrate one of their goals in Thursday night’s Europa Conference League win over Ludogorets – they have won all 18 games so far this season
Fred was much maligned at Manchester United, but was yet to suffer defeat at his new club
In the Turkish Süper Lig they have a maximum of 27 points out of 27 contests since the start of the season in mid-August and are, unsurprisingly, at the top, albeit only a few points ahead of their Istanbul rivals Galatasaray.
Coach Ismail Kartal, who returned to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium for the third time in the summer, couldn’t have asked for a better start and his squad contains many names familiar to Premier League fans.
Brazilian midfielder Fred, signed from Manchester United at the start of the season, featured in 13 of those 18 games and provided four assists in a bright start to life in Turkey.
At the helm is former Chelsea player Michy Batshuayi, who joined last year and has scored four goals so far in his European campaign.
Batshuayi scored in the win over Ludogorets before later setting up Miha Zajc for the team’s second goal.
Another well-known name is former Manchester City Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, who was signed from Inter Milan in the summer.
Dzeko may be 37 years old now, but with nine goals and seven assists since his arrival, he really enjoys Turkish football.
Another attacking option for Fenerbahce is Joshua King, the former Man United academy graduate who went on to play for Blackburn, Bournemouth, Everton and Watford. He has already scored four times this season.
Dusan Tadic, who spent four years at Southampton, plays in midfield and moved in July after five successful years at Ajax.
Former Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi scored as Fenerbahce beat Ludogorets
37-year-old striker Edin Dzeko, formerly of Manchester City, scored the goals
Former Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic in action during his final European game
Winger Ryan Kent (left) signed for Fenerbahce after leaving Rangers in the summer
On the wing is Ryan Kent, the Englishman signed by Rangers in June and who seems to be the favorite for the European games.
Right-back is Bright Osayi-Samuel, who joined them from Queens Park Rangers two years ago.
The successful start was achieved despite extensive staff turnover in the summer.
Prodigy Arda Guler, 18, was sold to Real Madrid for £17m plus possible add-ons, while first-choice goalkeeper Altay Bayindir moved to Man United.
This money was quickly reinvested by signing players such as Fred, Turkish winger Cengiz Under and Polish midfielder Sebastian Szymanski. Kent, Dzeko and Tadic were all free signings.
Commenting on their brilliant performance on Thursday, coach Kartal said: “We can only think about the next game because the rivals know what form we are in and they are out to beat us.”
“Every duel becomes more complicated.”
Lowly Pendikspor are their next league opponents on Sunday as they look to make it 19 wins out of 19.
Ismail Kartal has had a dream start after taking over at the Istanbul club in the summer