The Belgian team from Union St. Gilloise surprisingly prevailed at Galatasaray Istanbul – and can now hope for the next round again. A bitter setback for the Turks.
Galatasaray Istanbul’s last home defeat was an eternity ago. In the summer a year ago (August 27, 2024) there was a 0-1 defeat against the Young Boys from Bern in the Champions League qualification. Since then, the local team has not been able to beat the Galatasaray Stadium across all leagues. But this impressive series is now broken.
Coach Okan Buruk’s team had to admit defeat to the Belgian Union St. Gilloise 0-1 (0.0) in the Champions League on Tuesday evening (November 25th, 2025). A bitter and hardly expected setback for the Turkish top team, which recently celebrated three wins in a row (1 defeat) in this competition.
Only good approaches
St. Gilloise had only managed one win from their first four games and with this further success – only the second win in their Champions League history – can hope to reach the next round again.
Both teams started with a lot of energy and the desire to make an impact on offense. However, the offensive players on both sides appeared too hectic and too imprecise with their passing and shooting attempts to pose any greater danger in front of the opponent’s goal. Both teams initially couldn’t get past good approaches.
Both teams hit aluminum
After 26 minutes, the Turkish fans screamed for goal for the first time, but Gabriel Sara’s hard-hitting shot from 25 meters only hit the goal post and the ball bounced back into the field.
St. Gilloise tried primarily from a distance, but Galatasaray goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir had no trouble parrying the harmless balls that reached his goal.
Shortly before the half-time whistle, the Turks were lucky that Union defender Ross Sykes’ header from a corner only hit the crossbar (40′).
Promise puts the guests in the lead
The Istanbul team remained the dominant team in the second half, but still lacked the ideas to cause serious problems for the committed Belgians. As in the first half, David Hubert’s team occasionally looked for their chances in the opponent’s half. And this tactic should pay off.
After a remarkable move over three stops in the Turkish penalty area, attacker Promise David only had to push in from six meters to make it 1-0 (57th). After that, Galatasaray had a lot of trouble getting back to their own game. Emotions bubbled over both in the stands and on the pitch. An orderly football game only took place again after a long delay.
In the balanced but disjointed game, neither Ilkay Gündogan nor Leroy Sané were able to create any special moments for Galatasaray.
Bardakcı with the Opportunity for compensation
St. Gilloise was hardly affected by the external circumstances, the players tried to continue their concentrated performance as largely undisturbed. Galatasaray increased the tempo and pressure in the following minutes.
Abdülkerim Bardakcı had a great chance to equalize after 79 minutes, but the defender shot the ball that had fallen at his feet from four meters well over the Belgian goal.
Shortly before the end, Arday Unyay, who had only been substituted in the second half, had to leave the field again; referee José Sánchez Martínez showed the 18-year-old talent yellow-red (89th). The Turks tried everything until the final whistle, but the St. Gilloise team was able to fend off all attempts to attack.