GALA PROGRESS

Galatasaray progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of the German club Schalke. The 4-3 aggregate victory has helped Galatasaray play in this stage of the competition after a long time.

The decision taken by the club to bring in high profile players like Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder during the January transfer window has definitely paid off. The manager Fatih Terim has said that he is extremely delighted with his players after the stunning victory.

Galatasaray were coming into the match facing elimination after managing only a 1-1 draw in the first leg. The away goal for Schalke meant that they would progress to the quarter-final stage even with a draw. The latest Unibet sportsbook has Schalke as slim favourites.

Galatasaray looked in danger of being knocked out of the competition after they conceded within 20 min to a goal from Roman Neustadter. However, they managed to come back into the tie after goals from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz in the second half. Galatasaray would have progressed to the next round had the match finished with this score itself, as they were ahead on aggregate. However, the goal from Michel Bastos helped provide Schalke with a lifeline, despite the fact that Galatasaray were still going through. The injury time goal from Bulut confirmed the fact that Galatasaray will be in the draw for the quarter-final stage.

“I kiss all my players on the forehead. We should have scored even more during the first half, they were extraordinary. That’s an important victory for the country, we are in the last eight in Europe. Sometimes you play good, sometimes bad. Galatasaray did it by our own effort. I wanted all the players to do marking and they’ve proved it, this was the difference,” said the Galatasaray manager after the match. The Turkish club are also top of the league as well.