Galatasaray lost 2-1 to Villarreal despite Osimhen's goal; Okan Buruk saw a red card

Galatasaray, the champion of the last four Süper Lig seasons, hosted Spanish club Villarreal at Rams Park in their final preparation match before the new season and left the match with a 2-1 defeat. In just the 2nd minute of the match, Okan Buruk reacted strongly to a penalty decision awarded to Villarreal and was sent off with a red card by referee Kadir Sağlam after receiving two consecutive yellow cards. Villarreal's goal from the penalty was scored by Ayoze Perez, while the yellow-and-red team's equalizer came from Victor Osimhen, who headed in a cross from Eren Elmalı. The winning goal of the match was scored by Mikautadze.

In the first half, tension arose in one incident between Victor Osimhen and Villarreal's Mourino. After the duel, the two players who got into an argument were tried to be calmed down by other players on the pitch intervening. The match, which had tense moments, was problematic for the Galatasaray side both in terms of result and discipline.

In the match played at Rams Park, most of the stands remained empty, with reports indicating fewer than 20,000 fans in the stadium. Fans reacting to the fact that only one transfer was made before the season chanted 'Where are the transfers?' toward president Dursun Özbek before and during the match. A fan in the stands was also seen protesting by putting a GSStore bag over his head.

With this result, Galatasaray has only defeated Ümraniyespor among the five preparation matches played before the season, suffering three defeats and one draw. Speaking after the match, Yunus Akgün reassured the team despite the negative result, saying, 'We will show everyone next week.'