We may only just be heading into the new year, but it is already looking like Galatasaray are marching towards a third-straight Super Lig title and a historic 25th.
Okan Buruk's men headed to Kayserispor on Sunday afternoon for their final game of an incredible 2024, and they had the chance to end it on the perfect note.
And they did just that, strolling to a resounding 5-1 victory, with a front three of Victor Osimhen, Baris Alper Yilmaz and Yunus Akgun lighting things up.
Osimhen led the line superbly, bagging a brace, while Baris also scored twice. Yunus was the star of the show, however, scoring a thunderbolt in the second half as well as providing two assists.
The performances of Yunus have been outstanding this season. After coming through the Galatasaray academy, he was seen as someone with unique talent. However, due to inconsistencies in his game, he was loaned to Leicester last year, but has come back to the club as a rejuvenated man.
A silky dribbler with so much natural ability, he has started to add some much-needed end product. The 24-year-old Turk has five goals and five assists in the league, and is also the joint-leading scorer in the Europa League with five goals. He has arguably been the player of the season in the Super Lig so far.
Osimhen - to no one's surprise - has been a cheat code in Turkey, significantly contributing to Galatasaray's exceptional results in the last few months. With 12 goals and five assists in 15 games in all competitions, the club will reportedly pull out all the stops in an attempt to sign him permanently this summer.
So it has been a truly remarkable 2024 for Galatasaray and overall, a staggering start to this campaign.
With 14 wins and two draws from their first 16 league games, they have smashed multiple records, and are already eight points clear of Fenerbahce while clearly looking a level above the rest. They are also unbeaten in the Europa League and are currently perched in the top eight of the table.
Huge credit has to go to manager Okan Buruk, who weathered a bit of a storm in the early months with his fantastic man management, and ability to organise and be flexible with his squad and starting XIs.
The vibes and harmony around the club are at an all-time high, and a lot of that has to do with him.
Question marks have constantly lingered about his in-game management, but he has proven time and time again what an exceptional Galatasaray manager he has been. Additionally, he is the quickest manager to get to 75 Super Lig victories, reaching the total in a barely-believable 90 games. Galatasaray just so rarely drop points.
But the same cannot be said for Fenerbahce.
After failing to win in two of the previous three gameweeks, Fener were desperate to get maximum points to narrow the gap to the table-toppers. However, they faced an extremely difficult test away at Arda Turan's high-flying Super Lig debutants Eyupspor.
And after a really exciting 90 minutes, Arda did his former side Galatasaray a massive favour, holding Fenerbahce to a 1-1 draw.
It was yet another mighty impressive performance from Eyupspor, who look like they've been in the league for many a year.
Arda has imprinted a clear style on his team, with the deepest midfielder consistently dropping into defence to receive the ball as they aim to play out from the back whenever possible. But with six-foot striker Mame Thiam leading the line, they are also happy to mix it up, launching it long when under pressure.
If anything, they were unlucky not to win the game. Ahmed Kutucu gave them the lead in the first 45 minutes with a wonderful strike, before Youssef En-Nesyri grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. It was a fortuitous goal for Jose Mourinho's unit though, as there was a foul prior, but VAR deemed too much had happened in between the offence and the goal.
After some wild protests, Arda was sent off, and had to watch the rest of the match from the stands.
Eyupspor were also unfortunate not to go 2-1 up in the second half, with the linesman ruling out a goal for a foul in the build-up, which looked extremely soft on replay.
Their 24-year-old goalkeeper Berke Ozer was phenomenal in goal, putting in a commanding display. He made eight saves and eased the pressure on his team by claiming catches on a regular basis. Tall in stature and incredibly confident, he has been a revelation this season, confirming himself as one of Turkey's brightest prospects and one of the best keepers in the league.
With Galatasaray's Fernando Muslera and Besiktas' Mert Gunok on the wrong side of 30, he should definitely be a goalkeeper that both those clubs are looking at in the summer.
But where does this leave Fenerbahce? The club employed Mourinho in the summer with the sole target of winning the league.
Currently, they are miles away from doing that. The football is lacklustre, they are falling well behind Galatasaray, and some fans are already growing frustrated with the manager, who often seems a bit moody in his press conferences.
In the five matches they have played against the other teams in the top six, they have failed to get a single win. Not a good look.
Another season without the Super Lig title could prove to be a fatal blow for club President Ali Koc.
Selcuk Inan and Alex de Souza face off
An interesting narrative was unfolding on Sunday in the Super Lig. Two sides who were having very solid seasons, Gaziantep and Antalyaspor, went head to head. But perhaps more interestingly, it was a management face-off between Galatasaray's Selcuk Inan and Fenerbahce's Alex de Souza - two club legends.
As expected, fans of the two Istanbul giants were fully invested, determined to see their icon reign victorious and gain some bragging rights.
In the end, Selcuk and Gaziantep came out on top, sealing a deserved 2-0 victory to leapfrog their opponents in the table and move up into eighth place. They have now won five matches in a row at home.
Selcuk is doing a really great job at Gaziantep as a young, up-and-coming manager, and is one of the many disciples of the legendary Fatih Terim in the league.
Okan, Arda and Selcuk all played under Fatih Terim at Galatasaray, while the latter was even one of his assistant managers between 2020 and 2022.
Okan is far more experienced than the others, with Arda and Selcuk being exciting coaches who continue to go from strength to strength.
It hasn't always been easy for Turkey to produce top-class coaches, but with this duo as well as Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin, they finally look to be in a good place.
Highlight of the Week
Prior to last week, Adana Demirspor hadn't won a game all season and were sitting on -1 point after suffering a three-point deduction due to their crippling financial situation.
They came into Monday's clash with Hatayspor off the back of their first win against Besiktas. And despite going a goal down, Adana fought back to win 3-1, clinching back-to-back Super Lig victories for the first time in 46 matches.
Centre-back Semih Guler stole the show, scoring this absolute thunderbolt to draw his side level.
Despite the wins, Adana are staring relegation in the face barring a miracle, but they are still providing some entertainment.
Team of the Week
Galatasaray's electric attacking trio all make Flashscore's team of the week, while Goztepe - who continue to be one of the most exciting Turkish teams to watch since being taken over by Sport Republic in 2022 - have a pair of midfielders in the starting XI.
One of those midfielders is Novatus Miroshi, who is the star of the week after his brace in a 3-0 victory against Rizespor, which saw them move into fourth in the table.