Galatasaray have clinched their place in the group stage of the UEFA Cup with a 2:1 home win over Bellinzona. Having won the first leg with a 4:3 scoreline, the Turkish giants have never looked like letting the Swiss minnows ever dream about doing through, and the scoreline dids little to portray how dominant their display was. Milan Baros opened the scoring with a 24th minute penalty, while Turkish born Sermeter scored a shock equalizer for the visitors from the spot on 52 minutes. The Granata never looked like scoring the second, and the Turks sealed a deserved win late on, when Yildiz headed home a free-kick by Lincoln.

With a comfortable lead from the first leg, the Turks could allow themselves to rest a few key players, including Kewell, Nonda and Sas. Bellinzona, on the other side, have entered the match with an even more defensive formation than expected - with Lustrinelli, who normally plays as an attacking midfielder, playing as a lone forward in front of a very defensively oriented midfield line.

Despite conceding four goals in the first match, Bellinzona keeper Gritti was voted Man of the Match on several Swiss websites, and he had a face the same amount of work on an autumn Turkish evening ,as Galatasaray have taken full control from the first moment and have bombarded the away area with a number of crosses and long range attempts. On 24 minutes, Wahab and Mangiarratti joined forced to try and stop Topal, only for the Turkish international to go down under the challenge and Baros cooly reverting the penalty. Topal, Turan and Baros all wasted excellent opportunity for Galatasaray, who have probably went to the break wondering how come they were ahead by only one goal. And on 52 minutes, the home team was served with an even greater shock - Rivera was brought down in the area by Lincoln and Turkish-born Sermeter, a declared fan of Galatasray ,made no mistake with the spot kick. It was Bellinzona's first and only shot on target during the entire course of the match, and this says a lot about the home side's dominance. But Galatasaray have kept pushing and got a deserved winner on 86 minutes - Linkoln sent a trademark free kick into the area for substitute Yildiz to head home.

The class difference between the sides was obvious in both of the legs, and only the huge committment of the Swiss players, as well as some poor finishing by the Turks have caused both of the legs to end in narrow scorelines. Galatasaray are entering the UEFA Cup group stages with an ousider look at European glory, while Bellinzona are set to start figuring out a way to save themselves from relegation in their domestic championship.