Juve's five goal meltdown against Osimhen's Galatasaray

During the first eight games in the Champions League so far, Galatasaray scored only nine goals and Victor Osimhen was the scorer in six of them. Tonight, against a formidable opponent, Galatasaray became the first Turkish team to score five goals in one Champions League game as the home teams used all defensive errors of the guests and humiliated them 5-2 in the Playoff round‘s first leg, but Osimhen didn‘t score any of them. Juventus used their chances and even took a lead in the first half, annulling the opening Galatasaray goal, but then melted in the second period, with a lots of defensive errors, a red card and four allowed goals. A really tough tasks awaits them in eight days in Turin.

Juan Cabal was a tragic figure for Juventus. Brought in at halftime to replace Cambiaso who was in danger of getting a red card, the Columbian did exactly the opposite – got two yellow cards in the space of eight minutes and left his team in lurch. Ex Newcastle defender Kelly had two poor decisions which led to two goals by the hosts, while on the other side Barıs Yılmaz ‘destroyed‘ Juve‘s defense with his run-ins. He was responsible for both Cabal‘s yellow cards (and Cambiaso‘s too) and the third goal was scored after a foul on him. Noa Lang came from Napoli in January and scored a brace after only four games (he scored just one in Italy in 27 appearances).

After an exciting first 15 minutes, the hosts took the lead when Yildiz made a mistake in his own area and lost the ball. Osimhen took the ball and send it to Gabriel Sara who smashed it to the bottom left post for a sudden lead. But Galatasaray fans didn‘t even start to celebrate properly and it was already 1-1. In the 16th minute, Cambiaso crossed the ball from the left but Kalulu‘s shot was blocked by keeper Cakir. However, the rebound fell to Koopmeiners who equalized from a simple tap-in. The Dutch midfielder totally turned the game around 15 minutes later with a fantastic shot from the edge of the box, but Juve‘s meltdown happened in the second half.

Galatasaray started strong from the first whistle and former Napoli player Lang equalized after only four minutes. Barıs Yılmaz created the opportunity and the same player got the free kick for Galatasaray in the 60th minute. Sara took a sharp shot and ex Tottenham defender Sanchez gave the lead back to the hosts. From that moment on there was no way back for the visitors. First it was Cabal who got the second yellow card (after a foul on Yilmaz) and then Thuram passed a tricky ball to Kelly in his own penalty area, which Osimhen took away and assisted to Lang for 4-2. Former Newcastle defender lost the ball in the penalty area in the 86th minute and on-loan Bayern defender Sacha Boey had no problem scoring for the final 5-2.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - PLAYOFFS

First leg

Tuesday

Galatasaray - Juventus 5-2 (1-2)

/Sara 15, Lang 49, 75, Sanchez 60, Boey 86 - Koopmeiners 16, 32/

23.00: (4.20) Benfica (3.60) Real Madrid (1.95)

23.00: (2.10) Dortmund (3.50) Atalanta (3.80)

23.00: (5.70) Monaco (4.50) PSG (1.60)

Wednesday

20.45: (7.75) Qarabag (4.50) Newcastle (1.42)

23.00: (5.00) Bodo (3.90) Inter (1.68)

23.00: (3.85) Club Brugge (3.90) Atl.Madrid (1.95)

23.00: (2.50) Olympiakos (3.35) Leverkusen (2.85)

***odds are subject to change***