Galatasaray have returned back to the Europa league stage after almost 6 years absence and they will be competing in the game against Lazio to reach the latter stages of the competition.

Galatasaray were in the Champions League group stages a few months back but they failed to progress into the knockout stages after finishing third in the group. This automatically gave them a Europa League spot, which is not bad considering that the winners of this competition qualify directly to the Champions League group stages for the next season.

After coming through the ranks at Aston Villa and having spent almost a decade with the club, it looks like Gabriel Agbonlahor’s time at Villa Park may be coming to an end.

The number of first-team appearances for the forward has been considerably reduced this season. The 29-year-old has featured in only eight matches across all competitions. He is yet to score in the league, but such a position will apply to many of the Villa players given the poor form. Scoring goals has been a major problem for the club and it continues unabated even after the arrival of Remi Garde.

Galatasaray’s new coach Mustafa Denizli claims that he was prepared to risk his reputation with the club and its supporters only because he wanted to help them out of trouble.

The 66-year-old is one of the recognised names at Galatasaray after having been with the club as a player and as a coach. He recently agreed to return to the club on an 18 month contract. His arrival comes at a time when the club are struggling to get results of any sort. They are quite far away from the, which is dominated by the likes of Besiktas and Fenerbahce.

The 2-1 win over Benfica at home appeared to provide brief confidence for Galatasaray, but they have slipped back into the disappointing ways after the loss against Benfica in the reverse fixture.

Galatasaray manager Hamza Hamzaoglu has been a man under pressure for quite a while.

The effects of the home grown players rule are still playing out. It is still too early to tell whether the arguments as to whether the new rules will raise the level of the Turkish game or - as some fear - put a block on the long-term development of home-grown talent. But there is no denying the impact that the arrival of big name stars is having when it comes to attracting attention to the Süper Lig.

Dirk Kuyt would not feature in the top tier Football in Turkey any more, but, he would always remain one of the most loved players in that part of the world.

It was incredible how much love Kuyt got in Turkey despite being an overseas player.

He was a part of Fenerbahce, but, the fans of the other clubs also gave him a lot of respect.

Even when playing on rival grounds, Kuyt was cheered and there was a reason to it.

Galatasaray manager Hamza Hamzaoğlu says that he is very confident that his club will be able to win the title this season.

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder says that he is extremely surprised and happy with the support shown by the Turkish football fans when he took to the field in a Euro 2016 qualifying match against Turkey.

Sneijder may be playing his football in the Turkish league for some time now, but he still remains a very much an integral part of this Dutch national team. A lot of questions have been asked about the Dutch in recent months after poor form since the World Cup 2014. They have gone some way into answering those questions by getting a draw and a win in the last two qualifying matches.

Galatasaray have revealed that Premier League outfit Chelsea made an offer for their star midfielder Wesley Sneijder in the summer. Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea last summer and he has been looking at the possibility of being reunited with Sneijder since then.