Galatasaray finished the first half of the Süper Lig season atop the standings thanks to a 3-0 win over Kasımpaşa on Dec. 21 night as Mauro Icardi became the club’s all-time leading foreign scorer.
Yunus Akgün opened the scoring early before late strikes from Gabriel Sara and Icardi secured the comfortable victory at RAMS Park. Icardi’s goal in the 88th minute was his 60th for the club, moving him past Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi for the foreign scoring record.
The win moved Galatasaray to 42 points, three ahead of archrival Fenerbahçe at the midway point of the campaign.
"It was a clean and beautiful win," Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk said.
"We controlled the game, though the second and third goals came a bit late. It was important to finish this stage of the season as the leader three points ahead of our closest rival," he added.
The coach also praised Icardi, who still has fitness issues after recovering from an eight-month Cruciate ligament tear injury, for his accomplishment.
“Icardi’s goal boosted everyone's morale,” he said. "He's returning from a long injury; it's not easy to return from an injury like that. The more he plays, the better he will perform. He also set a record, becoming the foreign player with the most goals for Galatasaray. I congratulate him on that,” he added.
Buruk also said that his team aims for more success in the new year.
“Our goal is to win our 26th championship in 2026,” he said. “This championship will be very important and valuable to us. We also aspire to be successful in Europe,” he added.
Galatasaray will start the second half of the season on Jan. 17 against Gaziantep, before playing two crucial Champions League matches: At home against Atletico Madrid on Jan. 21 and away at Manchester City a week later.
The team currently sits in the 18th spot in the league phase with nine points and eyes at least a draw to guarantee a place in the top 24 and the knockout stage.
Buruk said there may be additions to the squad if Galatasaray can continue on the European stage, taking into account financial constraints.
“In our country, there is always a desire to sign new players, but there is also a financial aspect to consider,” Buruk said.
“Players must be paid regularly, and there are budgetary responsibilities to the Turkish Football Federation and UEFA. We spent a lot of money signing [Victor] Osimhen, [Leroy] Sane, İlkay [Gündoğan], Uğurcan [Çakır] and [Wilfried] Singo. You can't just say, ‘Let's sign three more players’ on top of that budget,” he stated.
"If we progress in the Champions League, we’ll need reinforcements, and we are going to make that happen. We are making preparations for every position and are already in negotiations," he added.
