Midfielder Felipe Melo was delighted that Galatasaray were able to prove certain sections of the Italian media wrong.
Roberto Mancini’s side beat Juventus 1-0 to progress into the Champions League knock-out stages on Wednesday.
Melo, who used to play for Juventus, insists he has the “utmost respect” for the Bianconeri, but felt the Italian media had initially disrespected Galatasaray.
“I am happy because we won an important game,” he told Sky Sport Italia, as reported by Football Italia. “I have the utmost respect for Juventus, they are a great team, but I am happy only because Galatasaray won.
“We were fired up for this game and expected a great Juve, but also a great Galatasaray. We knew anything could happen and we deserved to win, as we played very well. Yesterday was impossible to play, while today we had to fight the ball.
“In football you never know and the Italian media should’ve had more respect for Galatasaray. The Corriere dello Sport wrote after the draw that Galatasaray and Copenhagen were two ‘sweeteners’ for Juventus, but they were proved wrong.”
