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Galatasaray salvaged a 3-3 draw against French side Stade Rennais in a breathless preseason friendly at RAMS Park on Sunday night, with Baris Alper Yilmaz converting a stoppage-time penalty to deny the Ligue 1 club a late victory in a match that produced three goals, two penalties, a red-card booking, and relentless end-to-end action across both halves.
Victor Osimhen gave the hosts an early lead, only for the Turkish champions to find themselves trailing 1-3 after a dramatic second-half collapse, before substitute Yilmaz stepped up in the 90th minute to level the score in front of the RAMS Park faithful.
Galatasaray began the match with characteristic aggression. Gabriel Sara tested Rennes goalkeeper Kilian Belazzoug early and often, feeding crosses into the box for Osimhen, who was denied by two sharp saves in the first 10 minutes. The opener arrived in the 18th minute when Sara's corner delivery found Osimhen free at the center of the box, and the Nigerian striker glanced a header to the bottom-left corner to make it 1-0.
Rennes responded with urgency. Arnaud Nordin struck the right post with a left-footed effort in the 23rd minute, with Esteban Lepaul blocked on the follow-up, before the visitors leveled in the 27th minute. Midfielder Mahdi Camara picked his way through a loose Galatasaray shape and laid off Lepaul, whose composed strike from outside the box skidded through to make it 1-1. A delay caused by a Camara injury had briefly interrupted play at the 15-minute mark.
The teams went into halftime deadlocked after a largely even first period in which Nordin was particularly dangerous on the right for the French side.
Galatasaray stormed out of the tunnel for the second half. Sara hit the right post with a right-footed effort in the 48th minute before converting the rebound opportunity two minutes later, capping a move that saw German winger Leroy Sane contribute the assist to make it 2-1. Sane, who joined Galatasaray on a free transfer from Bayern Munich last summer, was lively throughout before being withdrawn late in the match.
What appeared a controlled position dissolved in a 14-minute spell. Lepaul headed in Aboubakar Nagida's cross from close range in the 58th minute to equalize at 2-2, then won and converted a penalty himself three minutes later after Abdulkerim Bardakci brought him down in the area, putting Rennes in front at 3-2.
Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk responded with a wave of substitutions around the hour mark, including the introduction of veteran midfielder Ilkay Gundogan for Gabriel Sara in the 74th minute. Gundogan, who joined the club from Manchester City in September 2025 on a free transfer, brings Champions League pedigree and leadership experience to a squad Buruk has assembled with clear European ambitions. Goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir kept Galatasaray in contention, repelling efforts from Issa Soumare and Nagida as Rennes pressed for a fourth.
The match's defining moment came in the 90th minute. Victor Osimhen won a penalty when Adrien Thomasson bundled into him in the area, earning the Rennes midfielder a yellow card in the process. Thomasson had already collected the caution before Yilmaz, introduced as a substitute moments before the incident, stepped up and placed the ball coolly to the bottom-left corner to make it 3-3 in the fourth minute of added time.
Both sides had carved out chances in the final quarter of an hour, with Osimhen twice denied by Belazzoug in close succession in the 72nd minute and Yusuf Sivaslıoglu's right-footed effort saved in the 88th minute. It was an evening of genuine intensity for both sets of players still sharpening their match fitness.
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