Djiku shines as Mourinho’s Fenerbahce advance in Champions League qualifiers

Ghana defender Alexander Djiku was in action as Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce defeated Lugano to advance to the final round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

The Turkish giants had beaten Lugano 3-4 in the first leg in Switzerland and completed the job at home by coming from behind to win 2-1 on Tuesday evening.

Djiku once again partnered Caglar Soyuncu at the heart of defence and played the full throttle to help his side record victory.

Despite conceding an early goal following Hadj Mahmoud’s opener in the seventh minute, Fenerbahce rallied their way back to overturn the result.

Djiku's impressive stats against Lugano

Mourinho’s side struggled in the first half but Edin Dzeko found the equaliser in the 59th minute before Sebastian Szymanski struck deep into injury time to win the game for the hosts.

Djiku was one of Fenerbahce’s impressive performers on the night and made five important clearances within the 90 minutes, as per Sofascore.

The 29-year-old also recorded three interceptions, won six out of his nine ground duels and won 10 of his 12 aerial duels.

While the defender lost possession 11 times, he was heavily involved in his side’s progression from the back, having had 85 touches.

Djiku was a key player at Fenerbahce last season and looks primed to be an important part of Mourinho’s team this term too.

He has been very consistent in recent years, with his strong performances at club level making him a mainstay in the Ghana national team.

In June, the former Racing Strasbourg rearguard started both of Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR) and helped the Black Stars to win both games.