Citizens Coast into the Top 8: Man City vs Galatasaray Recap
- therookiereporters
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
On the last League Phase matchday of the Champions League, Manchester City hosts the Turkish side Galatasaray at the Etihad. Here’s everything you need to know about the game!
Heading through matchday 8, Man City is sitting in 11th place with 13 points and still has hopes to make it into the top 8. Meanwhile, Galatasaray is in 17th place with 10 points. Despite having an upper hand on most teams behind them, the Turkish Lions are still not entirely safe from elimination. Coming into this game, Man City have many important players missing in defence and midfield. Stones, Dias and Gvardiol are out with injury at defence. While Kovacic, Bobb and Savinho are also injured in midfield, Rodri is ruled out due to his red card against Bodø/Glimt and Nico González’s situation is uncertain. On the Turkish side, right-back Wilfried Singo is out with injury, winger Yunus Akgün and midfielder Lucas Torreira are not expected to be on the starting eleven. Man City and Galatasaray are gonna play against each other for the first time in their history. Galatasaray’s last away game in England was in Old Trafford 2 years ago, as they overcame Man United with a 2-3 win. Man City will be looking for a good performance after a humiliating Bodø/Glimt loss and Galatasaray would like to keep the momentum going after salvaging a point from Atletico Madrid on the previous matchday.
And now, here are the first eleven of both sides:
Man City XI: Donnarumma - Nunes - Khusanov - Ake - Ait-Nouri - O’Reilly - Cherki - Silva - Marmoush - Doku - Haaland
Galatasaray XI: Cakir - Sallai - Sanchez - Bardakci - Jakobs - Sara - Lemina - B.A. Yilmaz - Gundogan - Sané - Osimhen
First Half
In the 11th minute, Jeremy Doku sends a ball through the defence to Haaland’s runway, the Norwegian striker breaks away from the defender and opens the scoreline with a clean lob over the goalkeeper. Then, Mario Lemina brings down the dribbling Doku in the midfield and gets a booking, but more importantly, he is ruled out for the first game of the Knockout Play-Offs. Nico O’Reilly tries his luck from long range, but his strong shot gets denied by Ugurcan Cakir. Galatasaray get their first shot-on-target in the 26th minute, but Victor Osimhen is denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Only 3 minutes later, Rayan Cherki scores City’s second goal, as once again, Jeremy Doku’s pass from the left side finds the unmarked French player. Unfortunately, Doku’s game ends early, as he comes off injured in the 36th minute. Phil Foden is subbed on for the Belgian winger, as fans and Pep Guardiola wonder if City’s injury list is growing. In the remaining minutes of the first half, Galatasaray desperately attempts to break through the Man City defence, but Khusanov’s and Nunes’ rapid efforts prevent them from getting the ball to Osimhen. So, the first half ends with a 2-0 score for Manchester City. Citizens provide full-control over Galatasaray in the first half by breaking through their defence, keeping the ball possession and the opposition attackers at bay.
Second Half
Galatasaray begins with more pressure on City in the first part of the second half. Then, the game stops momentarily in the 51st minute, when a fan enters the pitch. The Turkish side keeps trying to get the ball to Victor Osimhen and they get their best shot in the 64th minute. Roland Sallai passes the ball to him right in front of the City box, however, the Nigerian’s strong first-time shot gets saved by Donnarumma. As Galatasaray starts taking more risks through the game, Man City finds more chances too, with Marmoush and Ait-Nouri, but Ugurcan Cakir prevents them from scoring a third goal. The game stops once again when new-sub Reijnders and Davinson Sanchez collide head-to-head in the 69th minute. Both players get treated by the medics and manage to continue with bandages on their heads. In the remaining minutes of the game, both teams try their best to score, but can’t find the target, so the game ends 2-0 with a Man City victory.
With this result, Man City leapfrogs the reigning champions PSG, Newcastle United and Real Madrid to secure a spot in the Round of 16. Meanwhile, Galatasaray finishes the League Phase in 20th place and qualifies for the Knockout Play-Offs, becoming the first Turkish side to achieve it since the introduction of the League Phase format. Goalscorer Rayan Cherki is chosen the Man of the Match, as he and Jeremy Doku shine as the difference makers for Man City. On the other side of the pitch, Ugurcan Cakir adds some more highlight reel saves to his tally, but can’t stop Citizens from scoring two. Sallai-Osimhen link-up plays can’t get past through stalwart City defence led by Khusanov and through-ball attempts from Sané-Lemina duo also can’t find their targets.
Long story short, Man City and Galatasaray gave us a decent matchup on the last day of the CL League Phase. Knockout Play-Off draw will take place this Friday(30th of January) at Nyon, Switzerland. Let’s see if Galatasaray can fend off their next opponent and join the Citizens in the Round of 16.
Article written by Emre Albas © Emre Albas 2026
