4:3! Offensive Galatasaray makes it unnecessarily exciting against Elfsborg!

A wild kick-off in the Conference League

What a start to the Conference League group stage for Galatasaray! The Turkish record champions won their opening match against Elfsborg from Sweden 4:3 (2:2) on Thursday evening, but made it unnecessarily exciting at the end.

In front of 38,758 spectators in the Nef Stadium in Istanbul, Kerem Akturkoglu (28th minute) and Bafétimbi Gomis (45th) gave Gala a 2-0 lead. But Elfsborg hit back quickly after the restart: Jeppe Okkels (50th) and Simon Strand (54th) equalized within four minutes.

Galatasaray then regained the lead through Milot Rashica (63rd), but the Swedes equalized again through Okkels (75th). In the end, substitute Juan Mata (88th) scored the winning goal for the hosts.

Galatasaray dominates, but makes mistakes

Galatasaray was the dominant team over the entire match, but repeatedly invited Elfsborg back into the game through defensive mistakes. The Swedes were efficient and took advantage of their chances.

In the end, however, Galatasaray's individual class prevailed. Akturkoglu, Gomis, Rashica and Mata are all experienced international players who made the difference in the end.

Outlook: Galatasaray wants to win the group

With the victory, Galatasaray has made a good start to the group stage. The next match is on September 15th at home against Lokomotiv Moscow. If Gala wins that match, they will be in a good position to win the group.

Conclusion

Galatasaray's victory against Elfsborg was a wild ride. The Turks were dominant, but made too many mistakes defensively. In the end, however, their individual class prevailed. With a win in the next match against Lokomotiv Moscow, Gala can take a big step towards winning the group.