Tag: Galatasaray

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Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern and Atletico reach Champions League quarterfinals

Barcelona hit Newcastle United for seven to reach the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday, while Liverpool overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Galatasaray in their last-16 tie and both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid advanced to the next round.

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski both scored twice as La Liga leaders Barcelona tore apart Newcastle at the Camp Nou, winning 7-2 in the second leg of their last-16 encounter to progress 8-3 on aggregate.

A spectacular match saw Anthony Elanga twice score for Newcastle inside the opening half-hour to cancel out goals by Raphinha and Marc Bernal.

However, the Catalans went back in front when Lamine Yamal converted a penalty deep in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-2 on the night, and they never looked back.

Fermin Lopez ran through for 4-2 early in the second half before Lewandowski added a quick-fire double either side of the hour mark, and Raphinha completed the scoring in the 72nd minute.

“The confidence that we got in the second half was good to see,” said Barca coach Hansi Flick.

It was a chastening defeat for Newcastle and just the third time since 1955 that an English team has conceded at least eight goals on aggregate in a European tie — one of the other occasions was this week, when Chelsea lost 8-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain.

“When the game was effectively over we didn’t react well to that, so it became a very difficult second half,” said Newcastle coach Eddie Howe.

It was also just the third time Barcelona have scored seven in a Champions League game, and Flick’s side can now look forward to an all-Spanish quarter-final next month against Atletico.

Diego Simeone’s men lost 3-2 on the night to Tottenham Hotspur in London, but progressed 7-5 on aggregate thanks to their 5-2 victory last week.

Randal Kolo Muani headed in on the half-hour to give Spurs the lead on the night and suggest a stunning comeback in the tie was possible.

A superb Julian Alvarez strike just after half-time doused the home side’s hopes, even if a fine Xavi Simons effort put Tottenham back in front.

David Hancko headed in Atletico’s second on the night, before Simons converted a last-minute penalty for his second of the game as Spurs rescued some pride by ending a run of eight matches without a win.

Liverpool were too good for Galatasaray, overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit against the Turkish side with a comprehensive 4-0 win at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s side went ahead on 25 minutes through a lovely first-time finish at a corner from Dominik Szoboszlai.

Mohamed Salah then had a poor penalty saved in first-half stoppage time, but the Egyptian made up for that in style after the break.

He laid on two goals in the space of three minutes, one for Hugo Ekitike and the other for Ryan Gravenberch.

Salah then scored the fourth himself just after the hour, curling a superb effort into the far corner from the edge of the area from a Florian Wirtz lay-off.

It was his 10th club goal this season was also his 50th in the Champions League, and it sealed a 4-1 aggregate victory which takes the Reds through to a quarterfinal against PSG.

That will be a repeat of a last-16 tie a year ago which PSG won on penalties — the French club have won four knockout ties against English opponents since the start of 2025.

“We could (have) won 10-0, but we did a good job. We can be proud,” said Ekitike.

Bayern’s progress against Atalanta was never in doubt after their 6-1 win in the first leg in Italy, and they followed that with a 4-1 success in Munich.

Harry Kane opened the scoring with a retaken first-half penalty — his initial effort had been saved — and then added a brilliant second on 54 minutes.

The brace took the Englishman to a half-century of Champions League goals, as he joined Salah and Thierry Henry on that overall mark — Kane has done it in 66 games compared to 97 for Salah.

Teenager Lennart Karl got Bayern’s third and Luis Diaz the fourth, with Lazar Samardzic pulling one back as the Germans progress 10-2 on aggregate — they now face Real Madrid in a heavyweight showdown.

“We don’t fear anyone,” Kane told DAZN when asked about the prospect of that tie. (JapanToday)

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Osimhen fires Liverpool second leg warning

Victor Osimhen has warned Liverpool that Galatasaray can “do some damage” at Anfield ahead of the second leg of their UEFA Champions League tie, as the Nigerian striker also attracts transfer interest from Arsenal and Manchester United in a potential €140m deal, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The forward made the comments after Galatasaray secured a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the first leg at RAMS Park, a result that places the Turkish side in a strong position heading into the return leg in England.

Osimhen praised his teammates for their performance against the Premier League club and expressed confidence that the team could produce another strong display away from home.

“Every time we play here it’s so emotional for us. Aside from that, the victory is important,” he said.

“We know next week is going to be really hard, but I believe in this team and the kind of performance we put in against a very good side like Liverpool. I’m optimistic that we can do some damage there at Anfield.”

The striker acknowledged the challenge awaiting the team in the second leg but insisted Galatasaray would analyse their performance and attempt to improve.

“But like I said earlier, it’s not going to be easy. We will go back, look at our mistakes and try to correct them. I’m proud of the boys tonight,” he added.

Osimhen’s performances this season have further enhanced his reputation as one of Europe’s most sought-after strikers, with the Nigerian contributing 24 goals and assists across competitions.

His form has reportedly drawn strong interest from Premier League clubs ahead of the summer transfer window, with Arsenal and Manchester United among the sides monitoring his situation if he is to be priced away from Galatasaray.

According to SportsBoom, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sees the Nigerian as a key addition to his attack.

“Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reportedly views Osimhen as the ‘final piece of the puzzle’ for his frontline,” the report said.

Arsenal are understood to be seeking a reliable goalscorer to strengthen their title ambitions, while Manchester United are also considering reinforcements in attack as part of a wider squad rebuild.

The report added that pressure from former players could influence United’s pursuit of the striker.

“At Manchester United, the pressure from club legends like Rio Ferdinand is pushing the board toward a more aggressive pursuit. The club have attempted to sway the Nigerian international to Old Trafford on several occasions. Chelsea have also been linked with a move,” SportsBoom said.

Any move for the Nigerian forward is expected to command a fee of around €140m, a figure that would require significant financial commitment from potential suitors.

“If Galatasaray decides to cash in, the asking price sits between €120 million and €140 million; a figure that would shatter every record in the Süper Lig,” SportsBoom added.

For now, however, Osimhen’s immediate focus remains on helping Galatasaray complete the job against Liverpool as they attempt to progress further in Europe’s premier club competition. (Punch)

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Champions League roundup: Atalanta oust Dortmund, Galatasaray thwart Juventus fightback

Lazar Samardzic slotted home a stoppage-time penalty to complete a dramatic 4-1 victory for Atalanta against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, sending the Italian side into the Champions League’s last 16 with a comeback 4-3 aggregate triumph.

Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic in the penalty area and Samardzic converted the spot kick in the 98th minute to send the Italians through. Atalanta will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16, with the draw on Friday.

The hosts had to fight back following last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany, and Gianluca Scamacca tapped in at the far post to give them a fifth-minute lead as they got off to a dream start. Dortmund had their share of chances but it was their keeper, Gregor Kobel, who was busiest in the first half, twice denying Nicola Zalewski. He was beaten, however, on the stroke of half-time when Davide Zappacosta’s shot was deflected into the net off Bensebaini to make it 2-0.

The Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi made the save of the match when he tipped Serhou Guirassy’s low drive wide in the 49th minute, to protect their two-goal advantage. Dortmund went even closer in the 53rd with Maximilian Beier’s shot bouncing off the post. Instead it was the hosts who scored again thanks to Mario Pasalic’s header at the far post to go 3-0 up and take control of the tie.

Dortmund, however, hit back with the substitute Karim Adeyemi adding instant pace to their game and curling his 75th-minute shot into the top corner as the visitors pushed to take the contest into extra time.

But Bensebaini then tried to clear a cross in the box with a backheel, catching the head of Krstovic who went down bleeding. The hosts were awarded a penalty following a lengthy VAR review and Samardzic beat Kobel to send his team through with the last kick of the game.

The Atalanta defender Sead Kolasinac said he went through “a whirlwind of emotions” in the final seconds. “When the referee decided for a penalty, I didn’t know who would take it. All our penalty takers had been substituted, but luckily Lazar converted brilliantly,” Kolasinac told DAZN.

Emre Can, the Dortmund captain, said his error-prone side deserved their elimination. “If you make so many individual errors, it’s going to be difficult to progress… we were very unlucky, but to be honest we didn’t deserve to advance.”

Elsewhere Paris Saint-Germain, the holders, edged out 10-man Monaco to reach the last 16, a 2-2 draw giving Luis Enrique’s side a 5-4 aggregate victory.

PSG won 3-2 away in the first leg last week, but Maghnes Akliouche scored to give Monaco the lead on the night and level the tie on aggregate.

Mamadou Coulibaly’s second-half sending-off for the visitors then proved the catalyst for Marquinhos and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to score for PSG and seemingly finish off the tie, although Jordan Teze made it 2-2 late on.

“At the end, when they scored, we felt stressed and it was scary,” said Désiré Doué, who scored twice for PSG in the first leg. “The objective is to dominate the whole match, but you also have to know how to come back from behind. Next time, we’ll try not to concede a goal, that’s important.”

Galatasaray, meanwhile, fended off a rousing fightback by 10-man Juventus as Victor Osimhen struck in extra time to help earn the Turkish side a 7-5 aggregate victory.

Trailing 5-2 from the first leg, Juventus were given hope by Manuel Locatelli’s first-half penalty but they appeared doomed when the defender Lloyd Kelly was sent off on 48 minutes. Remarkably, the hosts forced extra time with goals from Federico Gatti and Weston McKennie but eventually ran out of steam, Osimhem and Baris Yilmaz scoring late to send Galatasaray through to a meeting with either Liverpool or Tottenham. (Guardian)

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Super Lig: Osimhen nets again as Galatasaray edge Göztepe 3–1

Victor Osimhen continued his fine run of form as Galatasaray came from behind to beat Göztepe 3–1 at the RAMS Park on Sunday.

Efkan Bekiroğlu shocked the hosts with an early opener after just six minutes.

Galatasaray has Osimhen to thank for a leveller in the 19th minute.

The Nigerian striker capitalised on a defensive error — his third league goal of the season.

His fine performance comes days after his brace earned Galatasaray a 3-1 win over Bodø/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League last Wednesday.

Galatasaray went on to take control in the second half through strikes from Gabriel Sara and Mauro Icardi, either side of Göztepe’s efforts, before the visitors ultimately fell short.

The victory keeps Galatasaray top of the Turkish Super Lig with 28 points, five clear of second-placed Trabzonspor.

Göztepe remain fifth on 16 points after suffering only their second defeat of the campaign. (Punch)

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Liverpool back on track while Real, Bayern and Chelsea win in Champions League

Hugo Ekitike scored against his old club as Liverpool got back on track with a 5-1 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League on Wednesday while Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were among the night’s other winners.

The Anfield side came into their trip to Germany reeling after a run of four consecutive defeats which included a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in their last Champions League outing.

They bounced back in style by coming from behind to hammer Eintracht, who suffered a second straight 5-1 defeat in Europe — having started their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 win.

Rasmus Kristensen gave the hosts the lead but Ekitike broke away to equalise against the team he left in July in a £79 million ($105.5m) deal.

Virgil van Dijk headed the visitors in front at a corner on 39 minutes and Ibrahima Konate made it 3-1 before the interval in almost identical fashion.

Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai added further goals in the second half as Liverpool moved up to 10th in the 36-team league phase standings.

“I don’t know if it’s a statement but it is a win and something to build on,” Van Dijk told broadcaster TNT Sports.

Chelsea won by the same scoreline against Ajax at Stamford Bridge, in a match which featured an early red card and three first-half penalties.

Kenneth Taylor was sent off for the Dutch visitors before Marc Guiu and Moises Caicedo scored for the Premier League side.

Wout Weghorst pulled one back from the spot for Ajax but Enzo Fernandez and Estevao both converted penalties before half-time for Chelsea.

Tyrique George rounded off the scoring in the second half as for the first time in Champions League history three teenagers scored for the same team.

“We trust a lot of young players,” said Maresca after the goals for Guiu, Estevao and George. “That is the strategy of the club, but not only the ones that we buy. Also the ones from the academy.”

Chelsea have now won their last two European outings since beginning their campaign with a 3-1 defeat at Bayern.

Ajax, meanwhile, are bottom of the standings as one of only two teams without a point after three games — the other is Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.

Bayern are one of five teams with the maximum nine points as Harry Kane scored his 20th goal in 12 club appearances this season in a 4-0 cruise against Club Brugge at the Allianz Arena.

Lennart Karl, 17, got the opener before Kane, Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson also hit the target for the Bundesliga champions.

Madrid also have nine points following a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Juventus at the Santiago Bernabeu as England captain Kane’s compatriot Jude Bellingham scored for the first time this season.

The goal came just before the hour mark, with Bellingham converting the rebound after Vinicius hit the upright. Juventus have now gone seven games without a win.

“I’m very happy with the win, it was a very tough game with chances at both ends and we had to sweat for it, but it was an important win against a big team,” Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told Movistar.

Tottenham Hotspur became the only one of England’s six representatives to fail to win this midweek as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Monaco.

In Lisbon, Portuguese champions Sporting came from behind to defeat Marseille 2-1 in a game which hinged on a red card in first-half stoppage time.

Igor Paixao’s stunner put Marseille ahead, but Emerson Palmieri was dismissed for a second yellow for diving after a decision to award him a penalty was overturned.

Sporting used the extra man to equalise in the second half through Geny Catamo before Alisson Santos got their winner.

Nigeria superstar Victor Osimhen netted twice as Galatasaray beat Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in Istanbul, with Yunus Akgun scoring their other goal before Andreas Helmersen pulled one back.

Athletic Bilbao beat Qarabag of Azerbaijan 3-1 at San Mames, coming from behind after Leandro Andrade had given the visitors a first-minute lead. Gorka Guruzeta bagged a brace for the Basque side either side of a Robert Navarro goal.

Atalanta and Slavia Prague drew 0-0 in the night’s other game.

The next round of Champions League action in a fortnight will include clashes between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern, and Liverpool and Real. (JapanToday)

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Liverpool lose to Galatasaray in Champions League; Chelsea beats Benfica

A Victor Osimhen penalty gave Galatasaray victory over Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Chelsea edged out Jose Mourinho’s Benfica and Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick for Real Madrid in Kazakhstan.

Elsewhere in the second round of matches in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition, Tottenham battled back to draw with Bodo/Glimt as Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Marseille and Inter Milan recorded big wins.

In Istanbul, Osimhen beat Alisson Becker from the spot in the 16th minute, giving Galatasaray a 1-0 win and condemning Liverpool to a second straight loss after their defeat by Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

The English champions thought they had a chance to equalise late on when Ibrahima Konate went down and a penalty was given, but the referee overturned his decision on review.

Liverpool, who finished first in the league phase last season, also saw Alisson go off injured in the second half before the introductions off the bench of Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak failed to have the desired impact.

“The margins were very small last season but then we were a lot of times on the right side of the score,” coach Arne Slot said.

“Today again the margins were really small, but for the second time in a row on the wrong side.”

Liverpool will now hope to bounce back on Saturday away to Chelsea, who themselves got back to winning ways with a 1-0 success against Benfica as the Portuguese giants’ new coach Mourinho came back to Stamford Bridge.

Richard Rios turned an Alejandro Garnacho cross into his own net for the only goal of the game in the 18th minute, with Benfica unable to recover as Mourinho returned to face the club he coached over two separate spells.

Chelsea had substitute Joao Pedro sent off in stoppage time but Enzo Maresca’s side were delighted to get the win after losing their opening European game of the campaign at Bayern.

“A defeat is always a defeat but this one can be a start for us. It was a stable performance,” Mourinho said of his team.

Spurs escaped Norway with a point in a 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt in a game played north of the Arctic Circle.

Kasper Hogh missed a penalty for the hosts before a brilliant second-half brace from Jens Petter Hauge had them two goals in front.

However, Micky van de Ven pulled one back on 68 minutes for last season’s Europa League winners, and Spurs then got a lucky 89th-minute equalizer when a Nikita Haikin save smashed into the stomach of Jostein Gundersen from close range and trickled over the line.

Record 15-time European champions Real made the long trip east to face Kairat Almaty and ran out 5-0 winners.

Mbappe opened the scoring from a first-half penalty and made it 2-0 soon after the break before firing in from the edge of the area to complete his hat-trick on 73 minutes, making it 60 career Champions League goals.

The Frenchman has now scored 13 goals in nine games in all competitions this season for Real, who also saw Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz net towards the end.

Bayern also scored five, with Harry Kane netting twice in the first half in a 5-1 win away to Pafos in Cyprus. The England star now has 17 goals in nine games in all competitions this season for his club.

Raphael Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise also found the net for Bayern, while Mislav Orsic scored for the hosts.

“I’m going into games with confidence, knowing I’ll get my chances. Scored a couple more goals today, I’m happy with that,” Kane said.

Atletico followed a 5-2 win over Real in the Madrid derby last weekend by thumping Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.

Giacomo Raspadori, Robin Le Normand, Antoine Griezmann and Giuliano Simeone netted for Atletico before Julian Alvarez scored a late penalty. Griezmann’s goal was his 200th for the club. Jonathan Burkardt pulled one back for Eintracht.

Igor Paixao netted twice in the opening 12 minutes as Marseille hammered Ajax 4-0. Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were also on target.

Lautaro Martinez got a brace either side of a Denzel Dumfries goal as last season’s runners-up Inter eased to a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague at San Siro.

Mario Pasalic scored a late winner as Atalanta beat Club Brugge 2-1, after a Lazar Samardzic penalty had cancelled out a Christos Tzolis opener for the Belgians. (JapanToday)