The Galatasaray soccer team lost 0-2 to Parma, a representative of the Italian first division soccer league (Serie A), in a friendly match.
The Yellow-Red team, who were training in the town of Irdning in the Liezen region of Styria in Austria, faced Parma as part of the “Summer Series Upper Austria” tournament organised by LASK.
Galatasaray started the match at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz with an 11-man XI: Fernando Muslera, Kaan Ayhan, Victor Nelson, Abdulkerim Bardakçu, Derich Korn, Lucas Torreira, Berkan Kutlu, Hakim Ziyech, Dries Mertens, Wilfried Zaha and Mauro Icardi.
Galatasaray dominated possession in the first half and created numerous goal-scoring positions but were unable to find the back of the net. Parma went into the break leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from Hernani Azevedo in the 42nd minute.
Coach Okan Burku brought on Michy Batshuayi, Kerem Aktürkol, Kerem Demirbay, Leo Dubois and Metehan Bartak at the start of the second half. Burku brought on Barış Alper Yılmaz, Yunus Akgün and Efe Akman in the 67th minute, Yusuf Demir in the 75th minute and Eyup Aydın in the 84th minute. Of the original 11 players, captain Muslera was the only one to remain on the field for the full 90 minutes.
Parma gained more positions in the second half, with Muslera drawing attention with some crucial saves, before Dennis Mann’s foot doubled Italy’s lead in the 71st minute.
New transfer Gelato joins the team
Galatasaray’s new Danish right-back, Elias Gellert, was included in the match squad.
The 21-year-old right-back, who joined the team for the first time yesterday after being transferred from Danish side Copenhagen, did not play in the match despite being on the bench against Parma.
Fans were given jerseys as presents
Galatasaray players showed off the uniforms they wore in the match to the fans.
Following the plan laid out before the game, after the final whistle the players headed into the stands and handed their jerseys to the fans.
After the final whistle, many Parma footballers asked for the Galatasaray star’s jersey, forcing the red and yellow team to reject their colleague’s request to give the jersey to a fan.
Two wins out of five warm-up matches
Galatasaray have won two of the five games they have played as part of their preparations for the new season.
The Yellow-Red team held their training camp in Austria in two phases, playing three matches in the first camp and two matches in the second camp.
Galatasaray lost 3-2 to Austria’s LASK and 5-2 to German second division side Fortuna Düsseldorf, but beat Slovakia’s Trencin 4-1 and Serie A side Lecce 2-1.
Galatasaray ended their training season with a loss to Parma.
Camp is over
Galatasaray completed the second stage of their Austrian training camp with a match against Parma.
The Yellow-Red team will return to Istanbul after the match and have two days off before beginning preparations for the TFF Super Cup match against Besiktas in Istanbul on August 3.
