Sneijder's goal sinks Juventus

Wesley Sneijder ended a year of contrasting fortunes by scoring the winning goal against Juventus on Wednesday, propelling Galatasaray into the Champions League knockout stages.

Six months ago, Sneijder's career was at a crossroads after he was stripped of the captaincy of the Dutch national team, then left off the squad because of a lack of fitness.

His 85th-minute goal is a payback for Galatasaray, which paid a reported $13.8 million for the Inter Milan midfielder in January.

Sneijder said recently the Turkish champion had yet to see the best of him.

The 29-year-old's winner in the snow-delayed tie allowed Galatasaray to advance to the knockout phase at the expense of the Italian champion.

"That goal is very important for me but even more important for the club," said Sneijder, who started his career at Ajax Amsterdam before moving to Real Madrid.

"It's great; we fought really hard and deserved to win."

In his first 15 games at Galatasaray, where he arrived to a great reception from supporters, Sneijder was substituted 12 times. He scored only three goals and delivered just one assist last season after his move from Inter, where he had fallen out of favor after refusing to take a pay cut.

"The expectation at Galatasaray was huge but, if I'm honest, I did not live up to it," he said in a recent interview.

Sneijder has also had to deal with a litany of injuries that sidelined him in each of the past four seasons.

His confidence was battered when Louis van Gaal took away the captain's armband in June and handed it to Robin van Persie, and this was followed by Sneijder's omission in August for the Netherlands' friendly against Portugal.

"I'm only selecting Sneijder when he is completely fit," the van Gaal said at the time.

"He won't be helped by my calling him up now ... it's better he stays with the club and continues training."

Ironically, injuries to others propelled Sneijder back into the Dutch side sooner than expected.

He helped his national team secure World Cup qualification, reasserting his influence and value, just as he has now done with his club.

"This goal, this victory will give me a lot of strength," Sneijder said after the narrow win, before stressing his future reamains in Turkey.