Galatasaray manager Fatih Terim has expressed his delight after his side qualified for the final eight of the UEFA Champions League following a 3-2 victory away to Schalke 04 on Tuesday.
Schalke went ahead early through Roman Neustadter before goals from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz had the Turkish club leading at the break, following the 1-1 draw in the first leg in Istanbul.
The German outfit responded through Michel Bastos on 63 minutes but Galatasaray retained their advantage on away goals, before Umut Bulut sealed their passage with a 95th minute winner.
“I want to congratulate all my players – I will hug and kiss them all,” Terim laughed.
“Players sometimes known for their limited movement and tackling ability were transformed in this game and fought for the team on the pitch.
“We played like an excellent European team in the first half. Before we conceded the [first] goal, we had three clear chances to score.”
He added: “Now we’re among the best eight teams in Europe. All Turkey and Galatasaray fans should enjoy this success. I would like to thank all the fans for making sacrifices to come to Germany and watch us.”
Schalke boss Jens Keller bemoaned a poor first-half.
“I have no explanation for the first-half performance,” he said. “We played like we were doing a couple of weeks ago, without the necessary aggression, and everyone put in maybe 10% less than what was needed.
“We were not proactive and focused enough – we allowed them too much space.”