The turkish champion Galatasaray Istanbul starts flawlessly in the UEFA Champions League and wins 3-0 against Russia's Lokomotiv Moscow.

Galatasaray opened the UEFA Champions League 2018/19 season with a 3-0 win over the Russian champion Lokomotiv Moscow. The lions from the bosphorus succeeded after two years of abstinence against their own backdrop a fantastic start into the league of the champions. After the first matchday, the club from Istanbul are in Group D the leaders. The only shortcoming - The reckless yellow-red card of Badou Ndiaye, who had made a very good match until his dismissal. The Senegalese player is now missing in the away game on October 3 in Porto.

A fantastic start of the lions

Right from the start, coach Fatih Terim's charges were determined to get the lead quickly. Already in the ninth minute it rang already in the box of the Russian title holder from Moscow. After a cross pass from Emre Akbaba Garry Rodrigues started for the sprint and closed just before the penalty area flat and brought his team 1-0 lead. At the deflected shot keeper Guilherme looked a bit unhappy.

Only five minutes later it was then Akbaba with a header attempt for a corner itself, who missed the 2-0. Yuri Semin's players did not start until the 21st minute. After a brilliant pass from ex-Besiktas player Manuel Fernandes it was Jefferson Farfan, who could not defeat goalkeeper Fernando Muslera with a header in the penalty area. But Galatasaray remained unimpressed for the time being and continued playing well with Rodrigues on the left wing outside. The left winger left several times the right-back Benedikt Höwede look old, but he found in the middle no takers of his passes. But the Muscovites followed with Fernandes as leader, who came more and more in the game. The Russian player of the year prepared the defense of the lions by his dangerous standards and his technique a headache. One of them would have used almost routine Denisov with a volley in the 29th minute, but the defense remained for the time being still like a wall.

Galatasaray without problems

The Russian master went on where they left off the game. The club from Istanbul seemed a bit impressed at the beginning of the second half. In the 50th minute Aleksey Miranchuk forced a long-range shot from just under 25 meters goalkeeper Muslera to a brilliant act, who parried the ball to the corner. On the other side, Ndiaye was six minutes later with a 30-meter long-range shot. Keeper Guilherme was successful this time. The game then became more balanced over time, even in all statistical matters. The mistakes accumulated in the construction game and in the ball assumptions.

But Galatasaray became more active as Rodrigues again felt the desire to participate in the game. The yellow-red squeezed for a few minutes and were rewarded with a free kick from 25 meters. Eren Derdiyok, who had shown little until then, went for the free kick and raised to 2:0. After the strike, Akbaba had the final decision on his head after a cross from Yuto Nagatomo, but the ball landed in the goalkeeper's hands. Goal scorer Rodrigues could have expanded the lead afterwards. In the replay time of the match then increased the substitute captain Selcuk Inan by a penalty kick to the final score of 3:0.

After 11 years a turkish club wins against a russian club. The last timme won Fenerbahce Istablu against CSKA Moscow in 2007 with 3:1 also in a Champions League match. Galatasaray has broken this curse and had yesterday a fantastic come back!

Goals & Highlights

Goals: Garry Rodrigues (9') Eren Derdiyok (67') Selcuk Inan (90'+4' PEN)

Red Card: Badou N'Diaye (87')