Galatasaray won its first match in Austria

Following the Istanbul leg, Galatasaray traveled to Austria to continue preparations for the second leg, facing Austrian 2nd League team Admira Wacker at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz as part of the "Summer Series Upper Austria." The match, which kicked off at 8:30 PM Turkish time, was refereed by Jakob Semler, Amer Rekik, and Philipp Duschek. Galatasaray fielded a starting eleven consisting of Jankat Yılmaz, Metehan Baltacı, Carlos Cuesta, Eyüp Aydın, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Lucas Torreira, Gabriel Sara, Nicolo Zaniolo, Yusuf Demir, Derrick Köhn, and Yunus Akgün.

Galatasaray started the match strongly, taking the lead in the 10th minute. Yunus Akgün's long pass sent Derrick Köhn down the defense, finding the ball on the left side of the penalty area, and his shot found the back of the net: 1-0. The yellow-reds, who dominated possession, ended the first half ahead by a single goal. Galatasaray started the second half with three substitutions. Carlos Cuesta, Eyüp Aydın, and Jankat Yılmaz were substituted, while Arda Ünyay, Efe Akman, and Batuhan Şen were introduced. In the 57th minute, Galatasaray doubled their lead. Arda Ünyay rose to meet Yusuf Demir's cross into the penalty area from the right wing, and his header found the back of the net: 2-0. Admira Wacker answered a minute later with Alexander Schmidt: 2-1. In the 63rd minute, Yunus Akgün, Yusuf Demir, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Lucas Torreira, and Gabriel Sara came on for the yellow-reds. Okan Buruk replaced them with Berkan Kutlu, Victor Nelsson, Kazımcan Karataş, Elias Jelert, and Ada Yüzgeç. Nicolo Zaniolo came off in the 70th minute, and Berat Luş came on. As the game entered its final stages, Derrick Köhn was replaced by Çağrı Balta in the 80th minute. With no further goals in the remaining minutes, Galatasaray secured a 2-1 victory.

The yellow-red team will play their second match in the Austria camp against Cagliari Calcio on July 23.

BATUHAN ŞEN COULDN'T CONTINUE

Galatasaray's 26-year-old goalkeeper Batuhan Şen was injured in the 81st minute of the match against Admira Wacker after a collision with Filip Ristanic. Although medical teams attended to him on the pitch for a while, the 26-year-old was unable to continue. Şen was carried to the sidelines on a stretcher and replaced by Enes Emre Büyük in the 86th minute.

Source: DHA