Galatasaray welcomed Stuttgart to Seyrantepe on Tuesday evening for a UEFA Champions League league-phase match on the fourth matchday, with kick-off at 20:45 local time, according to Hürriyet. The Turkish champions are hosting a German club they have never met in competitive football before. Hürriyet reports the fixture was broadcast live on TRT 1.
Galatasaray's starting eleven was Uğurcan Çakır, Sallai, Sanchez, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Jakobs, Lemina, Torreira, Yunus Akgün, Batrakov, Barış Alper Yılmaz and Osimhen. Stuttgart lined up with Bredlow, Hendriks, Chabot, Mittelstadt, Leweling, Prömel, Atakan Karazor, Führich, Deniz Undav, El Khannouss and Demirovic, per the same report.
Why it matters
The match carries real weight for Galatasaray's position in the league phase. After three rounds, Stuttgart sit on seven points while Galatasaray have three, Hürriyet reports. A home result would narrow the gap between the Turkish side and the upper part of the table.
Stuttgart arrive in strong form. The German club took two wins and a draw from their opening three Champions League fixtures and are one of seven teams still unbeaten at this stage of the competition, according to Hürriyet.
A difficult record against German clubs
Galatasaray's history against German opposition in Europe's top club competition is a sobering one. Hürriyet reports that the Istanbul side have lost six of their last seven Champions League matches against German teams, with the remaining game drawn. Their most recent win over a Bundesliga club in the competition came in March 2013, a 3-2 victory against Schalke 04.
The home record is equally stark. Across the European Cup and Champions League, Galatasaray have never beaten a German side in seven home meetings, drawing four and losing three, per Hürriyet.
There are more encouraging signs from Galatasaray's most recent outing. They beat Lille 4-2 in their last Champions League match, ending a six-game winless run in the league phase. The four goals in that game exceeded the three they had managed across their previous six fixtures combined, Hürriyet notes.
The hosts will also be mindful of their home form in Europe. Galatasaray lost their last Champions League home game 4-1 to Barcelona, and Hürriyet reports they have not suffered consecutive home defeats in European competition since October 2019.
Stuttgart's defensive strength and the players to watch
Stuttgart's back line has been among the meanest in the competition. The German side conceded just twice in their first three matches, putting them alongside Arsenal and PSV as the joint-best defensive records in the tournament, according to Hürriyet. The report adds that Stuttgart's expected goals against figure of 2.3 is the lowest in the competition.
Their record against Turkish clubs is thin. Hürriyet reports Stuttgart have played a Turkish team only once before, losing 1-0 away to Fenerbahçe in the Europa League last October.
Much of the pre-match attention fell on Victor Osimhen. The Nigerian striker's eight Champions League goals place him third on Galatasaray's all-time scoring list in the competition, per Hürriyet. The same report notes he has scored once every 127 minutes on the pitch in the Champions League for the club, the best rate among Galatasaray players with at least ten appearances.
For Stuttgart, Ermedin Demirovic has four goals in this season's Champions League and has already set a club record for the most goals by a Stuttgart player in a single Champions League campaign, Hürriyet reports. Midfielder Angelo Stiller leads the tournament in both accurate passes, with 256, and line-breaking passes, with 73, according to the same outlet.
Hürriyet's live coverage of the match was updated through the evening, with the outlet reporting the score at 2-0 to Galatasaray while the game was still in progress. That figure was a snapshot of a match still being played at the time of publication and is not a final result.
The next set of league-phase fixtures will show whether Galatasaray can build on the night or whether Stuttgart's unbeaten start survives Istanbul.
