Turkey is out of Europe that counts, the country will not have representatives in the Champions League. It is not the first time that it has happened, without going too far, just go back two years to the edition in which the final was finally played in Istanbul. In this edition a similar scenario seemed highly unlikely, due to the value of the two representatives of the Super Lig and the opponents faced.
In recent years the country has been in a deep economic crisis, with inflation already skyrocketing for a long time. A situation that has inevitably affected the world of football as well. A crisis that is also evident in the repeated acts of uncontrolled violence that we witness inside and outside the stadiums. Despite everything, for some seasons now some clubs have returned to investing massively, despite everything: in a complicated scenario Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have built important teams, ambitious also for the European stages.
Icardi, Zaha, Ziyech, Mertens is what Galatasaray can field in attack; Dzeko, Tadic, En-Nesyri, Saint-Maximin is how Fenerbahce responds, having entrusted the bench to none other than José Mourinho this season. To date, the wages of the two clubs read 79 million for Galatasaray and 75 for Fener (source Capology). To give you an idea, if the two teams played in Serie A, Galatasaray would have the fifth highest wage bill in Serie A, after Inter, Juventus, Milan and Roma. And only Napoli would separate the team from European Istanbul from Fenerbahce, the Asian representative of the Turkish metropolis..
Despite this, it was not enough for Mourinho to get the better of Lille (salary total 21 million) and for Okan Buruk even of Young Boys (salary total 13 million). Both will find themselves in the Europa League, perhaps joining Ciro Immobile’s Besiktas, who play the return leg of the playoff against Bulgaria’s Ludogorets on Thursday (first leg 3-3). The other representative, Trabzonspor, has already flown out at the hands of Rapid Vienna. Here too, it would be merciless to compare the two salary totals.