The Lions have set a new standard in Turkish football with their success on the pitch for the past decade.
Last season’s Turkish Super Lig winners, Galatasaray, have dominated Turkish football for almost the entire past decade, winning 14 of 24 possible domestic trophies in the last 8 seasons.
The Lions completed a domestic treble in 2019 by winning the Turkish 2018-2019 Super Lig, Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup.
The club have won the Super Lig title and Turkish Super Cup five times between 2011 and 2019 and lifted the Turkish Cup four times.
Galatasaray, the most successful Turkish football team, have set the standard for the domestic league, winning the Super Lig in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018 and most recently, 2019.
The team also lifted the Turkish Super Cup in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2019 and won three consecutive Turkish Cup titles between 2014 and 2016.
They were also the defending Turkish Cup champions as they won the trophy again in May 2019.
Galatasaray replicated their previous success by defeating Akhisarspor 1-0 to lift the 2019 Turkish Super Cup in Ankara earlier in August 2019.
Rivals Fenerbahce struggling to keep up
With Galatasaray in pole position to dominate domestically again for another season, Fenerbahce, regarded as one of the most important football clubs in Turkey, are going through a difficult phase as they are yet to win a domestic trophy since 2014.
The Yellow Canaries have managed to win the league just 4 times in the past 8 seasons.
The club’s last major achievement was winning the Super Lig in 2014 and before that, the Turkish Cup in 2012 and 2013. In addition to this, the last time Fenerbahce won the Turkish super Cup was back in 2014.
Besiktas remain a serious title contender
Galatsaray’s dominance in Turkey has kept other clubs further behind, however, Besiktas did manage to remain relevant by clinching two back-to-back Super Lig titles in 2016 and 2017.
The Black Eagles have not been successful in the Turkish Cup as of recently, with their last trophy stretching back to 2011.
Anatolian minnows Konyaspor, on the other hand, pulled off two surprise victories in the past two years by winning the Turkish Cup and Turkish Super cup in 2017.
Similarly, recently relegated Akhisarspor won the Turkish Cup and Turkish Super cup in 2018 for the one and only time in the club’s history.