Galatasaray survive Juve scare to squeeze into Champions League last 16

2026-02-25 - 23:23

Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen scores the third goal during the match against Juventus. (EPA Images pic) TURIN: Galatasaray scraped through to the last 16 of the Champions League despite throwing away a three-goal aggregate lead at 10-man Juventus on Wednesday, with two extra-time goals limiting the Turkish outfit to a 3-2 defeat. Victor Osimhen and Baris Yilmaz scored the extra-time goals which allowed Galatasaray to win a thrilling tie 7-5 on aggregate and set up a clash with either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the next round. Galatasaray’s previous appearance in the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition was in 2014 and they were fortunate to make it through on Wednesday, even with Juve having to play most of the night with 10 men. Juve were leading on the night through Manuel Locatelli’s 37th-minute penalty when Lloyd Kelly was harshly shown a straight red card shortly after half-time for landing from a jump with his studs on Yilmaz’s Achilles heel. Kelly could hardly believe his eyes when he was initially shown a second yellow card. But he was livid after a check on the pitchside monitor led referee Joao Pinheiro to revoke that decision only to show him a straight red card for serious foul play. The English defender was filmed loudly proclaiming the decision “a disgrace” while Juve coach Luciano Spalletti looked on dumbstruck from the sidelines. That decision looked to have killed Juve’s chances of mounting a comeback but Federico Gatti pulled another goal back with 20 minutes remaining and 12 minutes later, after Kenan Yildiz hit