Galatasaray entered the 2022 Qatar World Cup and inflicted Spor Toto Süper Lig break with high spirits Monday.
The successful performance of coach Okan Buruk in the 13-week period of the Süper Lig with the Lions, who defeated Emre Belözoğlu's Medipol Başakşehir 7-0 and renewed their hopes for the championship raised eyebrows.
Under the management of Okan Buruk, Galatasaray, which has eight wins, three draws, and two losses in 13 weeks this season, is in second place in the league with 27 points.
In the last four seasons, Buruk has consistently outscored the "legend" Fatih Terim's 13-week performance record for the Yellow-Red team, which is two points behind the league-leading Fenerbahçe.
Fatih Terim took over in the middle of the 2017-18 season after Croatian coach Igor Tudor. Terim got nine wins, one draw and three losses in the first 13 weeks of the 2017-18 season and managed 28 points. Fatih Terim passed his disciple Okan Buruk by one point. But in the following four seasons, Buruk managed to collect more points than his master.
In the first 13 weeks of the 2018-19 season, Fatih Terim had seven wins, three draws and three losses at the beginning of Galatasaray. Under Terim's management, Galatasaray was able to collect 24 points in 13 weeks of the season in question. Well, in this one, the professor was three points behind his student.
In the 2019-20 season, the experienced coach bagged five wins, five draws and three defeats in the first 13 games of Galatasaray. The Yellow-Reds got 20 points in the season in question. Buruk surpassed Terim by seven points in the 2019-20 season.
In the 2020-21 season, Galatasaray had eight wins, two draws and three losses in the first 13 weeks. As the Lions collected 26 points, Fatih Terim will be remembered as the head of the team.
And in the 2021-22 season, which is Fatih Terim's last season in Galatasaray, the Yellow-Reds were able to collect 21 points by getting six wins, three draws and four losses. Terim was six points behind Buruk when looking at the 13-week period in his last season at Galatasaray.
Galatasaray scored 11 goals and conceded one goal in the last three games played in the Süper Lig. With Buruk, the Yellow-Red side, which had a three-match winning streak, stored their morale.
Buruk, who is frequently the target of criticism, also renewed his confidence.