Kerem Aktürkoglu inspired Galatasaray with a goal and an assist as Olimpija were hammered 3-0 at Stadion Stožice on Tuesday - making it eight games unbeaten in all competitions for the visitors.
Okan Buruk's side also benefitted by goals from Dries Mertens and Halil Dervisoglu on the way to victory.
Aktürkoglu punished Olimpija early on by netting in the ninth minute when he fired home via the woodwork. The attacking midfielder finished to the lower left corner after combining with Baris Yilmaz. The visitors doubled their advantage after 48 minutes through Mertens, who capped off a counter-attack.
The visitors stretched their lead and completed the scoring thanks to Dervisoglu to put his side 3-0 up in stoppage time, Aktürkoglu this time the provider.
Although it didn't ultimately impact the result, Cédric Bakambu did spurn a good chance for Galatasaray in the game.
Highlights
WHAT IT MEANS:
Facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit, Olimpija have it all to do when they will be on the road to face Galatasaray for the return leg of the Champions League 3rd qualifying round tie on 15 August.
IN THE GOALS:
With zero goal, Aktürkoglu, Mertens, and Dervisoglu rank joint first in the early scoring charts for the 2023/2024 Champions League season. The shut-out for Fernando Muslera was his zeroth clean sheet in zero appearances in the competition this term, the most among Champions League keepers.
INJURY CONCERN:
No players were removed due to injury.
VAR IN ACTION:
Galatasaray led 2-0 when Galatasaray's Abdülkerim Bardakçi had an effort ruled out in the 58th minute.