Mourinho's Fenerbahce begin their road to the Champions League

The second round of the Champions League Preliminary Round kicks off and Fenerbahce enter the fray. The Turkish side, who have not participated in the tournament since 2008, want to be among the best in the new Champions League in the 2024-25 edition.

The Ottoman side have the best possible weapon to try to achieve their goal. It is Jose Mourinho, a man who knows the competition like the back of his hand. The Special One has appeared 17 times in the group stage and has lifted the title twice: with Porto in 2004 and with Inter in 2010.

His Champions League experience began in 2002 thanks to the sacking of Octavio Machado. The man from Setubal took over the Porto bench on matchday three and his debut came - as fate would have it - at the Santiago Bernabeu against Madrid. He had to wait until 2003-04 to see him again in the top continental club competition, as in 2002-03 he participated in the UEFA Cup and won it.

From 2003 onwards, Mourinho, who won the Champions League with Porto in that edition, continued his idyll with the tournament with up to 15 more appearances in the following years: 7 with Chelsea (2004-2008 and 2013-2016), 2 with Inter (2008-2010), 3 with Real Madrid (2010-2013), 2 with United (2017-2019) and 1 with Tottenham (2019-20).

In addition to the 2002-03 season, the Portuguese manager missed the 2016-17 season because Manchester United did not qualify for the competition (they played in the Europa League). His last Champions League appearance came on 10th March 2020, when he was knocked out by RB Leipzig in the last 16 (4-0 on aggregate).

The Turkish side enter the second round of the new Champions League and ‘The Special One’, in his 1st Preliminary Stage of the competition, knows his path to the league stage of the tournament (former group stage). His first opponent will be Lugano and then, should he emerge victorious, he will face Lille in the third round. If they manage to eliminate the French, the final tie would be between Slavia Prague-Union Saint-Gilloise, RB Salzburg-Twente or Dynamo Kiev/Partizan-Rangers.