UEL: Villa face Fenerbahce, whose coach uses water bottles to grab points
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Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 22.01.26. | 14:22
Marco Asensio got illustrous instructions from his coach Domenico Tedesco on the pitch on Sunday and delivered a goal-winning assist soon after
Modern-day football has almost become a science, with all those gadgets, instruments, and modern technology surrounding it. And it's like that all around the world, especially among those serious European teams that want to win it all.
However, sometimes all that science is just not enough, or at least not colourful enough to send a clear message to players. That's why Fenerbahce's boss, Domenico Tedesco, returned to the very basics, like a non-league African youth coach, trying to improvise to instruct his players wisely.
What did he use? Water bottles. The Turkish giants were struggling against Alanyaspor, with the sides tied at two in the second half. Therefore, Tedesco decided to put bottles on the pitch and show his star midfielder and former Real Madrid player, Marco Asensio, how to do his job between the enemy lines.
And guess what? Only a few minutes later, Asensio assisted Anderson Talisca for the winner, as Fenerbahce celebrated a 3-2 win.
😲🧠Fenerbahce boss Domenico Tedesco used water bottles to pass on instructions to Marco Asensio… who went on to assist the match-winning goal minutes later.
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) January 20, 2026
pic.twitter.com/ux3ED0LZ4z
Four days later, on Thursday night, the Turkish giants face a much more serious challenge as they await Aston Villa in the UEFA Europa League clash.
Unai Emery's side is third in the league phase of the Europa League, having won five of their six games, while Fenerbahce sit in joint-11th place along with Nottingham Forest. A serious test for both sides, as we expect to see quite a few goals in the battle of two prominent tacticians.
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - MATCHDAY
Thursday
20.45: (1.77) Bologna (3.85) Celtic (4.90)
20.45: (3.65) Brann (3.60) Midtjylland (2.10)
20.45: (2.40) Fenerbahce (3.65) Aston Villa (2.95)
20.45: (1.45) Feyenoord (5.00) Sturm (6.50)
20.45: (1.18) Freiburg (8.50) Maccabi T.A. (16.0)
20.45: (3.90) Malmo (3.75) Crvena Zvezda (2.05)
20.45: (2.45) PAOK (3.50) Betis (3.05)
20.45: (4.30) Plzen (3.75) Porto (1.88)
20.45: (4.85) Young Boys (3.90) Olympique Lyon (1.75)
23.00: (2.70) Braga (3.35) Nott.Forest (2.60)
23.00: (2.40) Celta (3.45) Lille (3.15)
23.00: (1.80) Dinamo Zagreb (3.70) FCSB (5.00)
23.00: (2.35) Ferencvaros (3.40) Panathinaikos (3.25)
23.00: (2.00) Nice (3.90) Go Ahead (3.65)
23.00: (2.00) Rangers (3.70) Ludogorets (3.80)
23.00: (2.20) Roma (3.50) Stuttgart (3.45)
23.00: (2.30) Salzburg (3.80) Basel (3.00)
23.00: (3.10) Utrecht (3.50) Genk (2.40)
***odds are subject to change***
