President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan prolonged heartfelt congratulations to Galatasaray after the Lions clinched the 2024-25 Süper Lig title in dominant vogue on Sunday, changing into the primary Turkish staff ever to earn the best to put on 5 stars on their jersey.
“Congratulations to Galatasaray football team, their technical staff, and the entire Galatasaray Sports Club community on becoming the 2024-2025 Süper Lig champions,” Erdoğan posted on social media following the membership’s title-sealing win.
It was an evening scripted for historical past at a buzzing RAMS Park, the place Galatasaray brushed apart Kayserispor 3-0 in entrance of a raucous dwelling crowd to safe their record-extending twenty fifth league crown – and a everlasting golden place in Turkish soccer historical past.
The victory, with two matchweeks to spare, put them eight factors away from archrival Fenerbahçe and capped a season outlined by dominance, aptitude, and a touch of showmanship.
Victor Osimhen opened the scoring within the twenty sixth minute, netting his twenty fifth objective of the season.
The second became a touching household affair because the stadium’s audio system echoed his objective name – voiced by his 3-year-old daughter Hailey. Just moments later, Barış Alper Yılmaz made it 2-0 along with his twelfth league objective, celebrating by filming himself with a telephone handed from the bench – a stunt that earned him a yellow card however lit up social media.
While Galatasaray missed a number of probabilities within the second half, the outcome was by no means doubtful. Then got here the fairytale end. In the 89th minute, 38-year-old goalkeeper Fernando Muslera stepped as much as take a penalty and slotted it dwelling, scoring simply his second profession objective – 13 years after his first – sealing a memorable evening in Istanbul.
The win capped a double-winning week for Galatasaray, who additionally beat Trabzonspor within the Turkish Cup closing days earlier. Their season started inauspiciously with a 5-1 Super Cup thrashing by the hands of Beşiktaş, however the staff rebounded with a relentless run of type. Head coach Okan Buruk’s aspect has gone 17 dwelling league video games unbeaten and received 9 straight matches throughout all competitions since their final derby defeat in March – scoring 27 targets and conceding simply 4 throughout that stretch.
Galatasaray now leads Turkish soccer’s title race with 25 league wins – forward of Fenerbahçe (19), Beşiktaş (16), and Trabzonspor (7). Their league triumph additionally ensures direct entry to the league part of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, the place they’ll as soon as once more carry Turkey’s hopes onto the continental stage.
Even in triumph, the evening had its playful moments. Injured star Mauro Icardi was seen joking behind the bench, pretending to heat up when Osimhen briefly limped. And in a not-so-subtle jab at Fenerbahçe’s new boss Jose Mourinho, Galatasaray workers flashed a laptop computer display with the phrase “The Real One” below 5 golden stars – a cheeky twist on the Portuguese coach’s famed “Special One” nickname.
Source: www.dailysabah.com