Sturm Graz finished their woeful Europa League campaign on a high with a narrow 1-0 win over Group F winners Galatasaray.

There was little riding on the outcome for either club as Gala had already wrapped up the group thanks to a 1-0 victory at home to Panathinaikos two weeks ago.

They had also been unbeaten with four wins from five matches until Wednesday night's defeat, which came courtesy of Daniel Beichler's first-half strike.

Sturm Graz's results have been at the opposite end of the scale as they propped up the standings with just a single point heading into tonight's match.

Galatasaray made the early running with Abdulkader Keita wasting a couple of corner kicks.

Keita was proving to be the game's bright spark, however, feeding Aydin Yilmaz with an accurate cross which his team-mate was unable to convert from close range.

Caner Erkin had a 12th-minute opportunity for the visitors and forced Christian Gratzei into a decent save.

The early activity continued in the 13th minute when the home side had their first tentative openings.

Sturm's Beichler tried his luck with a left-footed shot from outside the box but fired wide after Jakob Jantscher's cross had been cleared.

Beichler made the breakthrough in the 21st minute, capitalising on Gala's failure to clear by hammering home from close range.

Keita continued to act as the Turks' main creative outlet without anything of note coming off for Frank Rijkaard's men, though in the 30th minute his cross found Yilmaz but the striker's poor effort was caught by Gratzei.

Yilmaz tried his luck again with the half-time break closing in but failed to force the equaliser while at the other end, Beichler's fizzing effort was narrowly wide of the target.

Gala goalkeeper Aykut Ercetin made his first significant contribution in the 42nd minute when he saved a shot by Klemen Lavric from the edge of the box.

Martin Ehrenreich opened the second half with a woefully weak effort that Ercetin saved with ease.

Serdar Eylik's created some confusion in the Sturm area with a dangerous-looking cross but the game soon petered out, with Rijkaard's side looking toothless as they surrendered and the home side enjoyed a rare fillip.