1-5 defeat! The Champions League powerhouse suffered a double blow, and the fans angrily yelled: "The nest is so arrogant, Mourinho laughs"

In the early morning of September 19, in a round 1 of the 2025-26 Champions League, Turkish giant Galatasaray suffered a heavy blow away, losing 1-5 to Frankfurt away, and started the Champions League journey this season with a crushing defeat. This loss of scores not only made the team lose all its face, but also exposed its deep shortcomings in the top European arena. In the 8th minute of the game, the team took the lead with Akkin's goal. But this fantasy start lasted for less than 30 minutes, and the situation completely turned to the home team. In the 37th minute, Frankfurt created a threat through Don't Leon's breakthrough, and the Galatasaray defender accidentally scored an own goal in a panic, and the score was tied to 1-1. Just a few minutes later, Frankfurt player Wu Zun seized the opportunity to score another goal and overtake the score 2-1. In halftime, Galatasaray's defensive loophole appeared again, and Singo's other owned by the team brought the team into the midfield with a 1-3 disadvantage, and the defeat was almost decided.

In the second half, Frankfurt did not slow down the offensive rhythm at all. Berkat and Knauf scored one after another, freeing the final score at 5-1. Behind the disastrous defeat was Galatasaray's miserable passive and defeated the entire game on both offense and defense.

This crushing defeat is not accidental, but a microcosm of Galatasaray's weak performance in Europe in recent years. Looking back last season, the team was double-killed by Swiss team Bern in the Champions League play-off, and even failed to enter the main game goal. After moving to the UEFA Cup, he failed to qualify from the group. In sharp contrast, Galatasaray is a "overlord" in the domestic league. He has won consecutive championships in the past three seasons, and the total number of Turkish Super League champions in the team has reached 25. At the beginning of this season, he led the standings with a perfect record of 5 wins. He has a lot of firepower on the offensive end and a 15-1 goal ratio, which once shouted "Turkish Super League finale". Now, with the UEFA Champions League defeat, "Horse in the Nest" has become a new title given to them by public opinion.

Interestingly, before the Champions League defeat, Galatasaray was also caught in public opinion controversy over a Turkish Super League match. In February this year, after the team drew 0-0 with Fenerbahce, the opponent's coach Mourinho publicly questioned the professionalism of the Turkish referee, saying that "it would be a disaster if the Turkish referee enforced the law." He also mocked Galatasaray's bench for "jumping up and down like a group of monkeys". In short, it is believed that the referee of the Turkish Super League was too partial to Galatasaray. These remarks aroused strong dissatisfaction from Galatasaray. The club not only issued an announcement to condemn Mourinho for "producing anti-humanitarian remarks", but also announced that it would file a criminal complaint with the procuratorate and appeal to UEFA and FIFA.

For Galatasaray, this 1-5 defeat was not only a heavy blow, but also a critical blow from public opinion. It seems to prove that what Mourinho said before is correct and full of gold. In fact, many teams have had similar experiences and have continued to win and win championships in the domestic league with special care. However, in the intercontinental arena, as the opponent's strength and referee standards change, they become at a loss, which is very different from the league's performance.

Of course, because there are as many as 8 rounds of the Champions League group stage, the defeat in the first game is not too fatal. The next 7 rounds of games are the time to test whether they are really "outside the nest".