Despite back-to-back UEFA Champions League losses, Galatasaray remains well-poised to progress to the knockout stage of European football’s premier club competition for the first time in 12 years. The Lions currently find themselves in 18th position in the league standings, with three wins and three losses to their name thus far, leaving them three points clear of the elimination zone with just two matches remaining.
There has been plenty to shout about throughout the journey thus far. A 1-0 win against pre-tournament favorites Liverpool set the tone for a successful campaign, while further victories against Bodo/Glimt and a 3-0 drubbing away at Ajax seemingly had Gala on their way to the knockout round, perhaps even with a top-eight berth. Since then, though, disappointing reverses to Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise and French outfit Monaco have dampened spirits.
Tough tests at home to Atletico Madrid and away at Manchester City currently lie in wait, with one victory across those two games likely enough to secure progression. But even so, betting sites don’t consider Galatasaray a likely tournament winner. The aforementioned Manchester City, however, is a team that sports betting sites like the look of, positioning the Blues as a third favorite to go all the way, and should Gala require any kind of result from that final game at the Etihad, they may well be in trouble.
If they can get the job done early, though, perhaps beating Diego Simeone’s Atletico in Istanbul on January 21st, then the Turkish champs will secure their spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2013/14. But what happened back then, and what about the previous times where Galatasaray managed a deep run in Europe’s biggest club football competition? Let’s take a look.
Drogba and Sneijder Steal the Show
When a Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick sealed a 6-1 victory for Real Madrid in Galatasaray’s opening game of the 2013/14 Champions League campaign, in Istanbul no less, many were predicting that the Turks’ stay in the tournament that year would be brief. Little did they know that the run was just getting started.
Legendary Italian manager Roberto Mancini was brought in in the days following that bitter defeat, and with superstars such as Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba already in the starting lineup, it was clear that Galatasaray had potential. Add to that a slew of Turkish internationals led by Burak Yılmaz and Selçuk İnan, and it was clear that this Lions team could go far.
In their second group stage game, Gala bounced back, stealing a 2-2 draw against Juventus in Turin through Umut Bulut’s late equalizer. Three weeks later, they had their first win, with both Sneijder and Drogba scoring in the 3-1 home triumph against FC Copenhagen. But things would take an immediate turn for the worse.
A 1-0 defeat to the Danes in the return fixture in Denmark, coupled with a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Real Madrid in the Bernabeu, left Gala on the brink. Ahead of their final game, the permutations were clear: beat Juventus at home, and progression was theirs. For 85 minutes, it looked as though they wouldn’t.
With the game on a knife-edge at 0-0 with just five minutes remaining, Gala pressed for the goal that would take them through to the round of 16. With the clock ticking away, Drogba held up the ball brilliantly, sliding in Sneijder down the right-hand side, and the Dutchman duly slotted past the iconic Gianluigi Buffon to secure a 1-0 victory, sending the Türk Telekom Arena into delirium.
Chelsea would await in the Round of 16, and once more, the Turks were alive and well. Aurélien Chedjou’s goal sealed a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Istanbul, but the return fixture at Stamford Bridge was a step too far. Strikes from Samuel Eto’o and Gary Cahill saw the Blues through, but not before Gala had secured their spot as one of Europe’s finest teams once again.
The Season Prior
That 2013/14 run to the round of 16 wasn’t a standalone success. The year before, Galatasaray were firing on all cylinders once again, this time pushing their way to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2001. And their run would endure a similarly bitter ending.
Throughout the group stage, the Lions shone, stumbled early, losing their opening two games before drawing the third. Then, they would go on a run for the ages. Gala won all three of their remaining games, beating CFR Cluj away, Manchester United at home, and SC Braga away, with Yilmaz scoring five goals throughout those three victories. In the first knockout round, they beat FC Schalke across two legs, with Bulut’s 95th-minute winner in the second leg in Gelsenkirchen arguably one of the Turkish side’s greatest ever Champions League moments.
But just as was the case back in 2001, Real Madrid would lie in wait in the quarterfinals, and Jose Mourinho’s Los Blancos weren’t about to be denied. The Spanish giants eventually triumphed 5-3 on aggregate, but Gala did manage a 3-2 victory in the second leg on home turf, ensuring that they bowed out with their heads held high.
