Soccer-Kuyt beats former club Liverpool to deliver 'miracle' for Fenerbahce


Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Fenerbahce v Liverpool - Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey - November 4, 2026 Fenerbahce interim coach Dirk Kuyt looks on REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Fenerbahce interim ⁠head coach Dirk Kuyt praised his side's intensity and ⁠fighting spirit after they twice came from behind to ‌beat his former club Liverpool 3-2 at home in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Kuyt, who played more than 200 games for Liverpool between 2006 and 2012, ​was last week named interim coach of ⁠Fenerbahce while they search for ⁠a permanent manager following the resignation of Ismail Kartal.

Just two matches ⁠into ‌the job, the Dutchman delivered Fenerbahce's first victory of their Champions League campaign, thanks to Vedat Muriqi's 79th-minute ⁠winner.

"I'm very happy with all the players, I'm ​very happy with ‌all the people who were involved that we made a ⁠miracle tonight ​because I think not many people expected us to win (playing) Liverpool," Kuyt told reporters.

"But we said before the game to each other, 'we have ⁠a chance'... The win tonight was not ​an easy win, but it was not luck. At the end of the day we deserved it. We created many chances, we ⁠kept pushing and we keep fighting against one of the best teams in Europe.

"We are back in this competition. I think a lot of teams have to still play tonight, but we ​are now in a position which gives ⁠us the right to play in the playoffs. And I think ​we have a great chance to ‌reach this stage."

Fenerbahce are 19th in ​the Champions League standings with five points from four matches.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

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