Once again, the Russians were too strong for Turkey. The 0:2 defeat in Sochi means for the Turks: Thus the participation in the playoffs is no longer possible.

Turkey missed out on getting an League up and also the play-offs in the UEFA Nations League. After a 2-1 defeat in the first leg, Mircea Lucescu's side were also beaten in the return leg, losing the match in Sochi 0-2 in front of a crowd of 33,000. The Russians will thus consolidate their lead in Group B2 with seven points, while Turkey remain ahead of Sweden with three points (one point behind). On the 5th matchday of the Nations League, the Scandinavians will be in Turkey, on 17th November at 18:00 CET, followed by a duel with Russia. The Turks have one point and are behind Sweden to avoid relegation to the C-League.

Statistically the Lucescu eleven was even superior to the hosts. More passes played (543:342) and possession of the ball (60:40), as well as a better pass rate (78:68) attested the Turks at least on paper an attractive performance. But the goals in the Olympic Stadium were scored by the Russians. It was Turkey legionnaire and Fenerbahce defender Roman Neustädter who scored the deserved lead with his first international goal for Russia in the 20th minute. The 30-year-old dusted off Jikia's post goal after a corner. Even after the lead, the hosts remained the more dangerous team and had further opportunities with Ionov and Golovin. On the other side, the Turks could not do much with the ball. Too hasty and ill-considered attacks over Cengiz Ünder and Mahmut Tekdemir remained unsuccessful.

With the start of the second half, the big goal area scenes were missing, only Dzyuba after just under an hour provided danger before the Turkish goal. The visitors were now in the clear and should not have complained about a second goal. Again Golovin and Gazinsky failed, while the luckless Cenk Tosun had this evening the best Turkish chance. The decision was made by the tactically and playfully more mature Russians in the 78th minute: Cheryshev, a substitute for Golovin, completed the home team's counterattack with a strong Golovin. In the remaining twelve minutes, the Turks were no longer able to start the final offensive. And so the match gone to the to strong team from Russia.