President Dursun Özbek and coach Okan Buruk took Galatasaray, which had the worst season in its history, falling to 13th place in the Trendyol Super League, and carried it to 4 championships in a row.
Galatasaray, which is the only team in Turkish football that has won the most Super League, Turkish Cup and Super Cup victories, and brought trophies from Europe with the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup, had the worst performance in its history by finishing 13th in the league in the 2021-2022 season. After the season in question, the board of directors headed by Burak Elmas did not continue, and the Spanish coach Domenec Torrent parted ways.
Dursun Özbek was elected president at the extraordinary general assembly held in June 2022. Özbek, who was appointed as the president of Galatasaray for the second time, appointed Okan Buruk, one of the legendary names trained in the club’s infrastructure, as the technical director of the football A team.
Buruk, who started his coaching career in 2011 as the assistant of Abdullah Avcı in the National Team, worked in Elazığspor, Gaziantepspor, Sivasspor, Göztepe, Akhisarspor, İstanbul Başakşehir and Çaykur Rizespor. He won the Turkish Cup with Akhisarspor and the Super League championship with Başakşehir. Okan Buruk, who attracted attention not only with his football career in Galatasaray but also with his success as a coach, rolled up his sleeves to raise the yellow-red team.
After the worst performance in history in the 2021-2022 season, the yellow-red club, headed by Dursun Özbek, managed to leave its mark on the last 4 seasons in football with its managers, technical team under the management of Okan Buruk, professionals and a staff that improves every year.
CLUB ECONOMY “TRANGED” UNDER UZBEK MANAGEMENT
President Dursun Özbek, who chose Okan Buruk as the coach, brought the club to a level economically. Galatasaray, which followed an austerity policy under the presidency of Burak Elmas and transferred young and promising football players, made star transfers under the Uzbek management.
When stadium, sponsorship, merchandising and UEFA revenues, which increased after sporting success, were added to the capital increases realized through real estate projects implemented under the Uzbek management, the financial power of the club enabled it to make transfers at record prices. The yellow-red club, which had the financial power to transfer Victor Osimhen for 75 million euros and Uğurcan Çakır and Wilfried Singo for 30 million euros each in the same season, also guaranteed its future with the establishment move it initiated.
BURUK SAVED FROM TRAUMA IN THE 2022-2023 SEASON
Coach Okan Buruk overcame the trauma quickly by leading Galatasaray, which finished 13th in the Super League, to the championship in its first season.
The yellow-red team, under the management of Buruk, kept players such as Fernando Muslera, Victor Nelsson, Sacha Boey, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Barış Alper Yılmaz from the 13th place squad. “Cimbom” added Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens, Lucas Torreira, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Sergio Oliveira, Juan Mata, Milot Rashica to the squad in the summer transfer period, and transferred Kaan Ayhan and Nicolo Zaniolo in the interim transfer.
Galatasaray, who bid farewell to the Ziraat Turkish Cup in the quarter-finals under the management of Okan Buruk, competed in a single track and finished the league as champions with 88 points, 8 points ahead of its closest follower, Fenerbahçe.
CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A RECORD SCORES IN THE 2023-2024 SEASON
Galatasaray, under the management of Okan Buruk, won the championship with 102 points in the 2023-2024 season. The yellow-red club included Davinson Sanchez, Angelino, Cedric Bakambu, Wilfried Zaha, Hakim Ziyech, Kerem Demirbay, Tete, Tanguy Ndombele, Carlos Vinicius, Derrick Köhn, Serge Aurier in its champion squad.
“Cimbom” completed the season played with 20 teams with 102 points, breaking the Super League record and reaching the championship. With this success, the yellow-reds made it 2 out of 2 in the Super League. Galatasaray, which said goodbye to the Turkish Cup in the quarter-finals, took the Turkcell Super Cup to its museum.
Competing in Europe for the first time under the management of Okan Buruk, Galatasaray could not get the results it wanted despite performing well in the UEFA Champions League group, which included Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Copenhagen, in which it participated in the preliminary rounds. The yellow-red team, which finished third in its group and continued on its way to the UEFA Europa League, had a shocking result by being eliminated by the Czech representative Sparta Prague in the play-offs.
HE WEARED THE 5TH STAR IN THE 2024-2025 SEASON
“Cimbom”, under the management of Buruk, won its 3rd consecutive championship in the 2024-2025 season, reaching 25 championships in total. Galatasaray included players who played an influential role in the season, such as Victor Osimhen, Gabriel Sara, Ismail Jakobs, Roland Sallai, Ahmed Kutucu, Alvaro Morata, Michy Batshuayi, Mario Lemina, in the champion squad.
The yellow-red team, which started the season with a 5-0 defeat to Beşiktaş in the Turkcell Super Cup and elimination against Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League play-off round, managed to get back on its feet in the continuation of the season. Finishing the season as the leader with 95 points, 11 points ahead of its closest follower Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray experienced the joy of championship for the 3rd time in a row and the 25th time in total. With this result, the yellow-red team became the first team to wear the 5th star on its jersey.
Galatasaray crowned its success in the Super League with the Ziraat Turkish Cup championship. The yellow-red team could not carry their good performance in Türkiye to Europe. Galatasaray, which continued in the UEFA Europa League because it could not participate in the Champions League, started the tournament well but remained outside the top 8 due to the bad results in the last matches. Galatasaray disappointed its fans by being eliminated in the play-offs by the Dutch representative AZ Alkmaar, whose squad value was lower than its own.
HE EQUALED HIS OWN RECORD WITH THE QUADRUPLE
Galatasaray, which achieved its 4th consecutive Super League championship under the management of Okan Buruk, repeated its championship record.
The yellow-red team received the transfer fee of Osimhen, who played on loan at the beginning of this season, by paying a transfer fee of 75 million euros. Galatasaray, which surprisingly added German star Leroy Sane to its squad without a transfer in June, transferred Uğurcan Çakır and Wilfrid Singo for 30 million euros each. “Cimbom” also brought İlkay Gündoğan, who had great success in world giants, to the team. Galatasaray, which knew how to part ways with the players it could not benefit from in the past three seasons, acquired Noa Lang, Yaser Asprilla and Renato Nhaga in the interim transfer.
Galatasaray had difficulty in forming a squad due to long-term injuries from time to time during the season, players receiving heavy penalties and the number of players going to the African Cup of Nations. Galatasaray, which had a shocking result by losing the Turkcell Super Cup to Fenerbahçe in January, got what it wanted in the league and Europe.
Despite the difficult times, Okan Buruk’s students, who secured the championship with 1 week left before the end of the Super League, succeeded in playing in the last 16 rounds of the UEFA Champions League. Galatasaray, which relieved its longing for success in Europe, which was seen as lacking under the management of Okan Buruk, repeated its championship series record between 1996-2000 by becoming champion in the league for the 4th time in a row.
OKAN BURUK AND HIS STUDENTS ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH RECORDS
Galatasaray will enter the new season in the Super League with the aim of breaking a new record in Turkish football history by becoming champion for the 5th time in a row. Okan Buruk, in addition to the championships during his 4-season management, broke many records and principles both individually and as a team.
Okan Buruk, who was one of the important parts of the squad between 1996-2000 during his football career, also achieved this in the manager’s chair. Buruk became the second football player in Europe, after Spanish coach Pep Guardiola, to achieve a championship series of 4 consecutive seasons, both as a player and as a coach. The 52-year-old coach received the title of second coach in Turkish football, after his coach Fatih Terim, by becoming champion for 4 consecutive seasons.
Galatasaray, under the management of Okan Buruk, finished the 2023-2024 season with 102 points and won the title of the team with the most points in a season in league history. “Aslan” became the first team in league history to reach three-digit points.
Buruk left his mark on Turkish football history as the person who won the most championships as a football player and coach in the Super League. Buruk, who won 7 championships as a football player, won the league championship for the 5th time as a coach.
The experienced coach made history as the first Turkish coach to achieve this success with two different teams, after Mustafa Denizli, who made three different teams champions. Buruk became the second player in Galatasaray, after Hamza Hamzaoğlu, to win the Super League championship as both a football player and a coach.
Galatasaray, under the management of Buruk, broke the record of winning consecutive matches in the history of the Super League with the 20-36th level of the 2023-2024 season. broke the week with 17 competitions. Okan Buruk’s students also broke a record by winning 17 consecutive away matches in the series, which started with a 5-1 win against Trabzonspor in the 21st week of the 2023-24 season and ended with a 2-1 win against RAMS Başakşehir in the 19th week of the 2024-25 season.
The experienced coach became the fastest coach to reach 50 away wins (64 matches) in the history of the Super League while managing Galatasaray. 52-year-old Buruk also received the title of the fastest coach to reach 75 wins (90 matches) with a team in the Super League.
Galatasaray entered the Trendyol Super League this season with 7 wins out of 7, making the best league start in the club’s history.
Okan Buruk broke another record with his 3-2 victory over Tottenham in the 4th week of the UEFA Europa League in the 2024-2025 season, and became the Turkish coach with the most wins in the tournament by achieving his 9th victory in this organization.
