Derwall retired from managing with Galatasaray in 1987 after helping his club become league champions (for the first time since 1973); despite speculation that he might take over as head coach of the Turkey national team, he chose instead to return to Germany and enjoy his retirement. He was happy to see that the spark he lit grew enormously, with Galatasaray reaching the semi-finals of the 1988–89 European Cup (predecessor of the UEFA Champions League) and winning both the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000.