Turkey crows as Galatasaray glow

The Turkish press heard "the footsteps of a team walking toward the UEFA Cup final" as Galatasaray SK humbled FC Sion 5-1 to reach the group stage.

Crowd returns
Trailing 3-2 from the first leg in Switzerland, Karl-Heinz Feldkamp's side were at risk of besmirching a superb start to the domestic season, but - playing in front of a crowd at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium for the first time in eight weeks, having been ordered to play their first five league home games behind closed doors because of crowd problems - the Istanbul side cruised to glory.

Vatan assessment
The newspaper Vatan saw in the victory a sign of greater successes to come, writing: "The footsteps of a team which is walking towards the UEFA Cup final was heard on the Ali Sami Yen pitch yesterday." Galatasaray's greatest moment in European football came as they beat Arsenal FC on penalties in the 1999/00 UEFA Cup final, and they have their eyes on next May's final in Manchester.

'Demonstration of power'
"Spurred on by the chants of their supporters, Galatasaray had a great appetite for goals and made a demonstration of power," added Vatan. "They gave a recital to the crowd who were looking forward to seeing the same Galatasaray spirit which saw then defeat another Swiss side, Neuchâtel Xamax [FC], 5-0 to recover from a 3-0 loss back in the 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup."

Special praise
Another popular daily, Türkiye, also felt the echoes of past glories in the performance, which was kick-started by two Ümit Karan goals. They led with the headline: 'A blast from the past', and celebrated the ultra-attacking approach adopted by German coach Feldkamp and gave special praise to goalscorers Lincoln and Arda Turan for exceptional displays on the night.

'No mistakes at all'
Ömer Üründül, one of the most respected Turkish footballing pundits, could only marvel at an excellent team performance as Galatasaray earned their first crack at the UEFA Cup group stage. "A high tempo and hard pressing confined Sion to their own half from the first minute," he said. "Every attack created danger. Sion played on the counterattack but Galatasaray made hardly any mistakes."