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Galatasaray hosts Juventus on tonight in Istanbul with a clear milestone attached: The Istanbul side will step out in Europe for the 337th time, opening a UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off first leg at RAMS Park at 8:45 p.m. local time, with Dutch referee Danny Makkelie in charge and live coverage on TRT 1.
Galatasaray’s continental journey began in the 1956-57 season, and the club has since faced 113 different opponents from 37 countries across multiple UEFA competitions.
Today’s fixture will be the 337th European match in that history, following 336 games in which the Turkish club recorded 119 wins, 90 draws, and 127 defeats. Across those outings, Galatasaray have scored 460 goals and conceded 509.
This season marks Galatasaray’s 18th Champions League campaign overall, and the first time the club is competing in the tournament’s new 36-team league format after entering directly. In previous years, Galatasaray reached the group stage through qualifying on multiple occasions, including seasons that required one, two, or even three qualifying rounds, while other campaigns ended in the qualifiers.
Today’s match also carries a separate landmark inside Europe’s top club competition: it will be Galatasaray’s 166th appearance in the European Cup/Champions League proper. Combining the old European Cup era and the modern UEFA Champions League, Galatasaray’s record in those matches stands at 44 wins, 40 draws, and 81 losses, with 173 goals scored and 274 conceded. The club’s Champions League qualifying record is listed separately as 34 matches, producing 22 wins, seven draws, and five defeats.
Galatasaray ended the league phase on 10 points in 20th place, which set up the play-off pairing with Juventus. Their campaign included a heavy 5-1 away loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, followed by key results such as home wins over Liverpool (1-0) and Bodo/Glimt (3-1), plus a 3-0 away win at Ajax. Later, Galatasaray were beaten 1-0 at home by Union Saint-Gilloise, lost 1-0 away at Monaco, drew 1-1 at home with Atletico Madrid, and finished with a 2-0 away defeat to Manchester City.
Juventus completed the league phase in 13th place on 13 points, logging three wins, four draws, and one loss. Their run included early high-scoring draws with Borussia Dortmund (4-4) and Villarreal (2-2), a 1-0 defeat away to Real Madrid, and a 1-1 draw at Sporting. Juventus then found traction with a 3-2 away win over Bodo/Glimt, followed by 2-0 home victories over Pafos and Benfica, before closing with a 0-0 draw away to Monaco.
Galatasaray will be without Mario Lemina due to a yellow-card suspension, meaning he cannot face his former club in the first leg. Three other names are also unavailable because they were not registered in the UEFA squad: Arda Unyay, Renato Nhaga, and Can Armando Guner. Two Galatasaray players sit one booking away from missing the second leg: Ismail Jakobs and Davinson Sanchez.
Juventus list important injury absences as well, with Dusan Vlahovic, Arkadiusz Milik, and Emil Holm ruled out. Khephren Thuram, who missed the Inter matchday squad due to injury, is described as a game-time decision.
Galatasaray have not lost in their last eight home matches in all competitions, a sequence that includes games in the Turkish league, the Turkish Cup, and the Champions League, producing six wins and two draws.
The club have also stood out for their finishing in recent weeks, scoring at least three goals in each of their last four official wins: 4-0 against Zecorner Kayserispor on Feb. 1, then 3-1 versus Istanbulspor, 3-0 against Caykur Rizespor, and 5-1 over ikas Eyupspor. Across those four matches, Galatasaray scored 15 times and conceded twice.
In the Champions League this season, Galatasaray have scored nine times, with Victor Osimhen responsible for six of those goals. The remaining three came via two strikes from Yunus Akgun and an own goal credited to Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente. Osimhen is listed as sharing fourth place in the tournament’s scoring chart with Anthony Gordon and Gabriel Martinelli, while Kylian Mbappe leads with 13, followed by Harry Kane on eight and Erling Haaland on seven.
Mauro Icardi brings a personal statistical note into the tie, having scored eight goals against Juventus during his years in Italian football with Sampdoria and Inter, across 14 matches that included Serie A and the Italian Cup.
Juventus’ squad includes Turkish international Kenan Yildiz, who arrived from Bayern Munich’s youth system in the summer of 2022 on a free transfer. This season, he has nine goals in 33 appearances in all competitions.
On the touchline, Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk is not new to Italian football either, having spent three seasons at Inter and scoring twice in 42 matches across all competitions during that spell.
Speaking ahead of the game, Buruk said the tie would be demanding and stressed the need to manage the squad across both legs. He framed the match as a chance to move closer to a long-held ambition in the competition, adding that “this round will not end in the first match,” and that Galatasaray would aim to create a strong atmosphere at home to build an advantage.
Buruk also pointed to Juventus’ tactical flexibility, noting that their defensive shape can shift between back-three and back-four systems, and said Galatasaray must “move together” in both attack and defence. He confirmed Leroy Sane has returned to training after an injury, describing him as available for selection despite a recent spell without match minutes.
Baris Alper Yilmaz, speaking alongside Buruk, said the team felt fully ready and believed that if they applied the coach’s plan on the pitch, they could deliver a strong performance for supporters, while also acknowledging the quality of Juventus and his national-team connection with Kenan Yildiz.
Juventus come to Istanbul after a 3-2 league defeat away to Inter, decided by a 90th-minute Piotr Zielinski goal, leaving them fifth in Serie A on 46 points. Their wider recent run is also uneven, with just one win in their last five official matches across competitions.
The club’s Champions League run under coach Luciano Spalletti, who took over mid-season, is described as unbeaten in Europe so far, featuring three wins and two draws in his five Champions League matches in charge.
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