Galatasaray's Feast, Juventus' Disaster

ISTANBUL, WEDNESDAY – Istanbul remains a "graveyard" for Juventus. Three visits to Galatasaray's home ground in the Champions League have always ended in defeat. The "Aslan" team plunged Juve into their worst run in European club competition in nearly 70 years thanks to a 5-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 playoff on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) WIB, at Rams Park Stadium.

Galatasaray displayed the typical Aslan mentality, which translates as "lion" in Indonesian. Their spirit remained unshaken, despite Juve midfielder Teun Koopmeiners scoring braces in the 16th and 32nd minutes, which ultimately led to a goal from defensive midfielder Gabriel Sara in the 15th minute.

After the break, four goals were scored by the team coached by Okan Buruk. Noa Lang, a player brought in from Napoli during the last winter transfer window, became the catalyst for Galatasaray's resurgence with a pair of goals in the 49th and 74th minutes.

Davinson Sanchez, the center-back, scored the first goal for Galatasaray this season when the match had reached the one-hour mark. Then, right-back Sacha Boey capped off the home team's celebration with a precise shot in the 86th minute.

Undoubtedly, this is Galatasaray's best performance in the knockout phase of the Champions League. The Aslan squad has never won a match against contestants from the five top European leagues—England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France—with a margin of at least three goals.

The last time Galatasaray scored five goals in the best European club competition was in the 1988-1989 season. At that time, still known as the European Championship, Galatasaray silenced the Swiss club, Neuchatel Xamax, 5-0 at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium to win the second round with an aggregate score of 5-3.

"We showed great mentality in the second half. But our job isn't done yet. Juventus is a giant team that won't give up," Lang told Sky Sport Italia after the match.

Despite the absolute superiority, Sara stated that the match was fiercely contested. She mentioned that her team's positive achievement was the result of the contributions from all parties, starting from the coach's tactical planning, the phenomenal actions of the players, as well as the encouragement from the supporters in the stadium stands.

"This is an extraordinary match for us. My goal was a key moment for us, but I consider the third goal to be our turning point to score the subsequent goals," said Sara, who hails from Brazil.

Galatasaray capitalized on the red card received by Juventus wing-back, Juan Cabal, in the 67th minute. In a situation where they turned the score around to lead 3-2 after trailing 1-2 at halftime, Sara and her teammates further put Juventus in a tight spot.

Galatasaray produced five shots on target in the second half. Four of those shots resulted in goals. Meanwhile, Juve, which had created three shots on target in the first half, failed to pose any threat to Galatasaray's goalkeeper, Ugurcan Cakir, after the halftime break.

Meanwhile, Juve has suffered the second worst defeat in its history of participation in the Champions League. Conceding five goals in a single match is the second time that the Old Lady has experienced this.

They had previously experienced conceding at least five goals on one occasion. This occurred during the first round of the Champions League in the 1958-1959 season. The Austrian team, Wiener Sport-Club, defeated Juve 7-0 in Vienna.

The note dispels the fact that Juve was finally able to score at the Galatasaray's home ground. During visits to Istanbul in 2003 and 2013, the Old Lady always lost and went scoreless.

The turning point in Juve's performance was not based on the factor of Cabal's red card. The muscle injury suffered by center-back Bremer, which led to the Brazilian defender being replaced by Federico Gatti in the 34th minute, was a signal of Juve's declining performance before halftime.

Without Bremer's leadership, the duo of Gatti and Lloyd Kelly at the heart of Juve's defense was powerless to withstand the storm of attacks from Galatasaray. This was exacerbated by Coach Luciano Spalletti's decision to substitute Andrea Cambiaso at the beginning of the second half.

Cambiaso was substituted for Cabal to avoid a second yellow card from the Italian national team's defender. However, Cabal ended up entering the locker room earlier after playing only 22 minutes due to receiving two yellow cards.

"Once again, we easily lost concentration. Their (Galatasaray) goals came from our own mistakes," said Juve right-back Pierre Kalulu, as reported by Tuttosport.

Spalletti stated that his players failed to execute the game plan effectively. He revealed that instead of improving ball possession, collective errors in ball distribution caused Juve to always be at risk of conceding throughout the second half.

"Apart from the red card, the whole team suffered a setback in every aspect of the game today. This is a reflection of our recent form. We've played well in the last few games, but we've always created problems for ourselves," Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.

As a conclusion to the interview after the match, Spalletti stated that an evaluation still needs to be conducted to assess Bremer's injury. Since recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury last December, Bremer has consistently played from the kickoff in 15 consecutive matches for Juve. (AFP)