ON FASHIONABLE Baghdad Street, close to the FC Saracoglu Stadium on Istanbul’s Asian shore, apartment buildings were still draped in Fenerbahce flags three days after the triumph. Many Turks have been reminded of how vigorously the country celebrated its national team reaching the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. Some have gone further. Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final had united Turkey, struggling with recession and political crises, in what Ugur Dundar, a columnist on the daily Milliyet, called the “Fenerbahce Republic”.

It was not just Fenerbahce fans who celebrated. Although a passionate supporter of Besiktas, the third of the “Big Three” Istanbul clubs, President Abdullah Gul broke away from engagements at the Nato summit in Bucharest, rushed to the residence of the Turkish ambassador to Romania to catch Fenerbahce’s second-half fightback on television.

Nobody enjoyed the victory more than Aziz Yildirim, the club’s 56-year-old chairman, who had been criticised by Fenerbahce fans for the high turnover of head coaches and a poor return on his huge expenditure on players.

Since Yildirim took over as chairman in 1998, Fenerbahce have edged ahead of rivals Galatasaray in terms of league titles. Yet they have a scant record of European successes, and form says they have not done enough to take the tie over two legs. Their unprecedented arrival in the last eight of the competition was down to their home form and they have not won an away match in the Champions League proper – discounting the 5-0 victory in a prequalifier in the Faroe Islands – for the past three years. A draw would suffice in London, but of their past eight trips in group and last16 games, Fenerbahce have lost six, conceding three goals in each of their visits to Internazionale and to Sevilla, this season.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have an away goal, and one of the more impressive runs of home form in the competition. Fenerbahce coach Zico pointed out that whatever the omens, Chelsea must score. Should his team defend as they did against PSV Eindhoven – 0-0 in Holland in the group phase – they would maintain their slender advantage. The president thinks they will, and more. He already sees beyond Chelsea, further than a semi-final against Liverpool or Arsenal. “Book your tickets for Moscow now,” a jubilant Yildirim told Fenerbahce fans.