"Explosive confessions from Okan Buruk after the points loss."

Galatasaray's head coach Okan Buruk made striking statements after the match against Rigas Skola, where they drew 2-2 after failing to maintain a 2-0 lead in the second week of the UEFA Europa League.

"THE CHANGES DID NOT AFFECT THE GAME"

Okan Buruk's statements are as follows;

"The changes did not affect the game. With Barış moving to right back, we started to come from the right. Yunus was the best on the field. We produced more with him. We couldn't produce much from other areas. We could have solved it with a long shot or a set piece. We couldn't find the third goal with any of them. The referee allowed it, the game slowed down. In the end, we didn't get the result we wanted. Of course, I am sad about this.

"WE APOLOGIZE"

Expectations from us are very high. It is normal for expectations to be high from such an important squad. We fell below our own game. There were areas where we should have paid more attention to the opponent. We couldn't do that. We are sorry. This is an undeserving result for us. We couldn't win a match that we should have won comfortably, a match we brought to 2-0, due to a lack of concentration. We had an advantage, we wanted to win and continue. We couldn't succeed. I congratulate the opponent. Their game is like this, they close well. Despite scoring 2 goals, they constantly responded to us. This didn't happen. This is not worthy of us.

"THE KASIMPAŞA MATCH NEGATIVELY AFFECTED US"

Of course, drawing 3-3 in the previous match negatively affected us. This is clear. It can pull down your rising morale. That was a very different match, this is very different. We didn't have trouble in terms of goals, we found the 2-0. We needed to protect and increase it. It became 2-1 very early. At the beginning of the second half, it became 2-2. It psychologically pulled us down. There was also a story from the previous match.

"WE WILL PLAY WITH CONCENTRATION TO MAKE UP FOR THIS"

"Davinson and Torreira, of course, when they are there, you have a chance of conceding goals, and when they are not there, you also have a chance of conceding goals. The Galatasaray team is wide. They are in Galatasaray because they are very important. Whoever plays must do their best. We made two mistakes. To make up for this, we will play the match at home with the highest intensity and concentration."

"DEFENSIVE PLAYERS NEED TO FOCUS"

This year we have conceded many goals, yes, last year we were conceding less. Here, especially when you look at the last two matches, we should pay more attention to the opponent and the game. Our first job in terms of defense is to defend. We will build the game, we will participate in the attack, of course, but the most correct thing is that the defensive players need to be good and focus on defense.

"WE SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER"

I said this in the Kasımpaşa match as well. We couldn't attack in the second half. We couldn't get into position, but we also couldn't defend. You are ahead, you defend, come on. We were never a defensive team, we played our own game. Our seriousness in defense was low. We will fix this. Galatasaray will be a team that concedes fewer goals like last year. In the first half of the matches against Fenerbahçe and Kasımpaşa, we were dominant. I don't count this match, the opponent closed down, we tried to open them up. We should have done better, I mean two plus two equals four!

"HAVING THE BALL DID NOT HELP US"

Looking at today, Yusuf Demir was on the bench as a wing player. Ziyech was injured. Sallai is not in the UEFA squad. We made changes there. We tried Yusuf. I initially put Batshuayi in as a wing forward. We were like Icardi, Yunus, Batshuayi because they played with three at the back. We started like 4-2-1-3. We used Batshuayi like a winger. I wanted Yunus to be inside on the balls brought by Barış. We have a good squad. There can be absences. Today, Osimhen, who was in very good form, was not there. You can also produce solutions with him. Icardi can roam freely and be effective. I had higher expectations from the players who came in during the game. Unfortunately, we couldn't achieve that. We needed to produce more, no matter how much the opponent closes down... We needed to produce more! A team with such special players should have found the goal that would win the match. After it was 2-2, there were positions. Having the ball more did not help us.

"THEY DID NOT DO ANYTHING UNEXPECTED"

Overall, they played the game they had been playing so far. Then they switched to a five-man defense. In fact, they did not do anything very different or unexpected. They got behind the ball. They set up their defensive formations. We also couldn't produce much. 2-0, 2-1... Even if they fell behind, they never tried to get the ball. They waited in their own half when it was 2-0, and also when it was 2-1 and 2-2... Actually, it was a surprise for us that we conceded 2 goals.

"IT'S OUR MISTAKE, WE WILL FIX IT"

There was no problem with the weather. It was nice weather to play football. You can't experience the stadium atmosphere. There are no stands on either side, there is a track in between. The pitch was nice, the weather was nice. Our players and we had nothing to make excuses for. We started with a goal. We started 2-0. We had nothing to complain about. Today we experienced some bad luck. It was our mistake. We will fix this as soon as possible."