Galatasaray and Atletico share spoils in Osimhen's first post-AFCON game

Victor Osimhen has returned to club football after winning third place with Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. And his return was run-of-the-mill, neither good nor bad, as his Galatasaray shared spoils with Atletico Madrid in Istanbul - 1-1.

The striker made no significant contribution, while all the notable moments occurred in the opening 20 minutes. The visitors broke the deadlock over Giuliano Simeone in the fourth minute, but their defender Marcos Llorente deprived them of winning three points on a fierce away turf.

Atletico threw the first punch just four minutes into the game, stunning over 53,000 people at the packed Rams Park in Istanbul. Alexander Sorloth superbly kept the possession near Galatasaray's box, Matteo Ruggeri crossed the ball inside, and Giuliano Simeone headed it in after being left alone in the far post, repaying the trust the Madrid club had in him, as he extended his contract until 2030 just six days ago.

The alarms went off in the home team, but the crowd didn't have to wait long for their crew's response, as Galatasaray equalized in the 20th minute. Following Leroy Sane and Roland Sallai's combination over the right flank, the Hungarian sent a low cross into Atletico's box, where Marcos Llorente clumsily put the ball into his team's net, levelling the score.

The initial fireworks did not last, as the rhythm slowed and the half-time break approached. Atletico threatened a few times over Simeone and Julian Alvarez, while Baris Alper Yilmaz wasted a fantastic chance for the Turks in added time. Still, the result did not change.

Los Colchoneros got off to a strong start of the second half, as chances in front of Galatasaray's goal were coming one after another, but all were wasted. Sorloth, Alvarez, Simeone, Marc Pubill... The ball simply refused to go in. At the same time, their boss Diego Simeone made four substitutions between the 46th and 61st minutes, trying to shake up his team.

Simeone wants a new striker and he comes from Paris

Not even Antoine Griezmann who came off the bench could change Atletico's fortunes and bring them the winner, though he was close in the 85th minute, when Ugurcan Cakir superbly saved his free-kick strike.

In the end, the Spanish side kept the eighth UCL spot with the point they earned, but are at risk of being leapfrogged by several teams which play their games later. On the other hand, Galatasaray broke the two-game losing run, and are currently 16th.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 7

Tuesday

Kairat Almaty - Club Brugge 1-4 (0-2)

/Sadybekov 90+2 - Stankovic 32, Vanaken 38, Vermant 74, Mechele 84/

Bodo/Glimt - Manchester City 3-1 (2-0)

/Hogh 22, 24, Hauge 58 - Cherki 60/

Copenhagen - Napoli 1-1 (0-1)

/Larsson 72 - McTominay 39/

Inter Milan - Arsenal 1-3 (1-2)

/Sucic 18 - Jesus 10, 31, Gyokeres 84/

Real Madrid - Monaco 6-1 (2-0)

/Mbappe 5, 26, Mastantuono 51, Kehrer 55 og, Vinicius Jr 63, Bellingham 81 - Teze 72/

Olympiacos - Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 (2-0)

/Costinha 2, Taremi 45+1/

Sporting Lisbon - PSG 2-1 (0-0)

/Suarez 74, 90+1 - Kvaratskhelia 79/

Tottenham - Dortmund 2-0 (2-0)

/Romero 14, Solanke 37/

Villarreal - Ajax 1-2 (0-0)

/Oluwaseyi 49 - Gloukh 61, Edvardsen 90/

Wednesday

Galatasaray - Atletico Madrid 1-1 (1-1)

/Llorente 20 og - Simeone 4/

Qarabag - Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 (1-1)

/Duran 4, 80, Mustafazade 90+4 - Uzun 11, Chaibi 78 pen/

23.00: (1.90) Atalanta (3.50) Ath.Bilbao (4.20)

23.00: (1.12) Bayern (12.0) St.Gilloise (19.0)

23.00: (1.15) Chelsea (9.50) Paphos (19.0)

23.00: (1.82) Juventus (3.50) Benfica (4.50)

23.00: (1.48) Newcastle (4.40) PSV (6.75)

23.00: (3.90) Olympique Marseille (3.50) Liverpool (1.95)

23.00: (8.00) Slavia Praha (5.75) Barcelona (1.33)

***odds are subject to change***