Galatasaray have won their fifth Turkish Lig match, starting the season in top form. This match was against Eyüpspor. Galatasaray were missing their talented “mask man,” Victor Osimhen, who is nursing an ankle sprain sustained from a bad tackle while on international duty.
The team started with their captain and striker, Mauro Icardi, for the first time this season after recovering from an ACL injury sustained last year.
To be honest, the first half of the match was very boring. It also became glaringly clear that the team relies heavily on Victor Osimhen, Lucas Torreira, and Davinson Sánchez. Osimhen himself represents half of the Gala team—and I am not capping. Coach Okan Buruk revealed that he would be glad to have Osimhen back in time for their UCL match against Frankfurt.
Back to the game: Icardi broke the deadlock for Galatasaray in the 73rd minute, before Yunus Akgün added another 16 minutes later, assisted by substitute Barış Alper Yılmaz. Recall that Yılmaz played his first Galatasaray match after a transfer dispute with the club over a potential move to Saudi side Neom SC, which would have nearly doubled his salary. However, Gala noted that he was needed for the Champions League and refused to sell, as their president, Dursun Özbek, firmly stated in a press conference. Yılmaz still received support from the Gala stands in the Eyüpspor match after he admitted in a statement on his Instagram story that, though some of the things said about him were false, he was ready to acknowledge his mistakes.
With this win, Galatasaray have now scored a total of 15 goals in 5 matches and conceded just 1. They head strongly into their first UCL campaign with an away game against Frankfurt. The result of this match will likely decide whether Galatasaray truly deserve to be playing in the UCL or not.