CONQUEROR OF EUROPE GALATASARAY: EUROPEAN CUP SEMI-FINAL

The 1988-1989 season in the European Champions Cup, which brought together the best teams in Europe, witnessed a legendary European march for Galatasaray. Taking the field with the vision of President Ali Tanrıyar and the courageous football mentality of manager Mustafa Denizli, the Yellow-Reds eliminated Rapid Wien 3-2 on aggregate in the first round, and then advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax 5-3 on aggregate with a magnificent comeback. Matched with a strong Monaco coached by Arsene Wenger in the quarter-finals, the Turkish representative defeated their opponent 1-0 with a goal by Tanju Çolak at the Stade Louis II away. Backed by the enthusiastic support of thousands of expatriates in the rematch played in Cologne, Germany due to a stadium ban in Istanbul, Galatasaray drew 1-1 with an iconic free-kick goal by Cevad Prekazi in the 50th minute, putting their name among the top four teams in Europe. Although they bid farewell to the tournament in the semi-finals against a powerful Steaua Bucharest, losing 4-0 away and drawing 1-1 at home for a 5-1 aggregate defeat, this magnificent achievement became a first and a historical milestone in Turkish football. Finishing the Turkish 1. Football League in third place with 69 points that season, behind champions Fenerbahçe with 93 points, Galatasaray wrote its real great legend on the European stage.

1988-89 Semi-Finalist Galatasaray Squad: Goalkeepers: Hayrettin Demirbaş, Zoran Simovic, Alptekin Nazifoğlu, Cengiz Sökmen. Defense: Erhan Önal, Bülent Korkmaz, Cüneyt Tanman, Yusuf Altıntaş, Serhat Güller, Semih Yuvakuran, Nasser Sadeghi, İsmail Demiriz. Midfield: Tugay Kerimoğlu, Savaş Demiral, Zekir Keskin, Uğur Tütüneker, Savaş Koç, Muhammed Altıntaş, Arif Kocabıyık, İhsan Okay, İlyas Tüfekçi, Metin Yıldız. Forwards: Xhevat Prekazi, Didier Six, Tanju Çolak, Mirsad Kovacevic, Bülent Alkılıç, Erkan Ültanır.

IMAGE: TRT ARŞİV