The Süper Lig title race was settled in its penultimate week. As with most things Turkish football related, there was plenty of drama involved. Stars, red cards and flying kicks were all the rage in a week history was made.
Galatasaray defeated rivals Beşiktaş 2-0 in the Istanbul derby, which meant Fenerbahçe needed all three points against 4th placed Başakşehir to remain title contenders. The Istanbul minnows decided they were not going to keep to the script and scored two early goals. Fenerbahçe almost mounted a comeback, scoring twice in the last 10 minutes, but the main talking point was Pierre Webo’s flying karate kick. At the end of the night, the Yellow Canaries were issued four red cards, while Galatasaray were celebrating their fourth star.
The Lions will lift the league title for a record 20th time at the weekend following their away meeting with Rizespor and become the first Turkish side to wear the fourth star on their shirt.
The Netherlands international received a lot of stick when he decided to join Galatasaray in 2013. Sneijder was criticised for lacking ambition, leaving Inter for the money and even going into early retirement. To be fair, the Dutch star had already won just about every competition at club level - the Champions League, World Club Cup, Serie A, La Liga, Eredivisie and so forth. Sneijder made it clear that he wanted a change, somewhere he could really build a legacy. “The greatness of Galatasaray was clearly evident at the airport,” Sneijder said after being greeted by thousands of fans when he first arrived at the club.
If becoming a cult hero is what he was after, he is on course to becoming one. Galatasaray’s beloved Dutchman scored the second goal in the recent derby with Beşiktaş. The experienced playmaker also scored an unbelievable brace against bitter rivals Fenerbahçe in the first Intercontinental Derby of the season. Sneijder has had his most productive season since joining the Lions, chipping in with 12 goals 12 assists, which contributed to a respectable WhoScored rating of 7.15.
The 30-year-old has pulled a rabbit out the bag on more than one occasion this season and really has established himself as a leader. When the going got tough, Sneijder got going. The experienced playmaker averaged 1.9 key passes per game and put in perhaps two of his best performances of the season in the title-deciding matches.
Galatasaray have won their last six consecutive games. The Lions have also kept a clean sheet in their last six league matches. It would not be hyperbolic to say that the team’s defending was diabolical for much of the season. Galatasaray were leaking goals to such an extent that dreams of winning the elusive fourth star started slipping away. Then up stepped Fernando Muslera.
At first glance, it may seem as if the Uruguayan keeper had a poor season. The 28-year-old conceded 34 goals in the league - his highest tally since joining the club. However, that statistic is misleading and mainly down to the state of his side’s defending. The Galatasaray defence have conceded an average of 13.9 shots per game, the worst record the top seven teams.
Muslera on the other hand has been averaging 3.3 saves per game. The Uruguay international made important stops over the last six games when it counted most. ‘Defences win championships’ is an old cliché, but as far as Galatasaray are concerned, it needs a slight tweak - Goalkeepers win championships.
Hamza Hamzaoğlu
Hamzaoğlu was only appointed as a temporary solution for the debacle caused by Cesare Prandelli. The former Galatasaray defender took over a team in crisis in November. The former Akhisar coach managed to install team spirit in his side’s disenfranchised players that was missing under Prandelli.
Hamzaoğlu’s attacking brand of football won over the fans, as did his humble but emotionally fuelled press conferences. Galatasaray have averaged 2.42 points per game under he 47-year-old coach and became the third manager to win the league as a player and manager in Turkish Süper Lig history. Not bad for a manager on just $500,000 for the season.
Galatasaray’s most unlikely hero was Yasin Öztekin. The former Borussia Dortmund youth may have only gained an average Whoscored rating of 6.88 in the league, but that was mainly down to Prandelli’s peculiar insistence on playing him at right-back. Öztekin is of course a winger and under Hamzaoğlu, has proven to be one of the team's most influential players. In fact if you take Öztekin’s Whoscored rating since the turn of the year, it is a far more respectable 7.17.
The Turkey international paid €500,00 of the €2.5m fee to transfer himself from Erciyesspor to Galatasaray in the summer. He reportedly had to take the bus to training as he couldn’t afford a car and he was only expected to be a fringe player at best. Öztekin ended the season as a first team player, providing a respectable 4 league assists and was the scorer of the opening goal in the title deciding derby against Beşiktaş, a fixture he was awarded the WhoScored man of the match award in.
Are Galatasaray worthy winners of the 2014/15 Super Lig title? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
