In Group D of the Champions League, on Wednesday, October 24th, the Galatasaray – Schalke 04 game will be played. The match will take place on “Turk Telekom Arena”, starting at 20:00. “Miners” can take an important step towards the next phase in the event of a victory.
Although he managed only one draw in the last round, 1-1 with Bursaspor, Galata managed to keep his first position in the championship. But things are not as good in the Champions League. The defeat with FC Porto led her to third place in the group and a new defeat would be equivalent to eliminating from the competition. Wednesday’s confrontation is not an easy one, especially since Cim Bom has not managed a victory in the last seven confrontations on his own field, in front of the German teams. Moreover, Borussia Dortmund, in the last dispute, which took place four years ago, was imposed in Istanbul with a definite 4-0. Without Aziz, Feghouli and Fernando (injured), it remains to be seen if Fatih Terim’s band will break this curse.
On the other hand, with no support from Captain Ralf Fahrmann, Schalke succumbed to the last round of the championship, 0-2 with Werder Bremen. Most likely, Fahrmann will also be absent in Wednesday’s confrontation, which means Alexander Nubel is going to debut at the Champions League level. Although they have been inconsistent up to this point in the season, “miners” have reason to come up with a confident match with Galatasaray. In the three trips they have made so far in Turkey, they did not record any defeat. Moreover, in each of the last three Champions League tours they managed to make it, including on Real Madrid’s field. Thus, even without Fahrmann, Oczipka, Skrzybski and Teuchert (injured), Domenico Tedesco must find the necessary solutions to keep these issues intact.
The only direct confrontations between the two bands took place in 2013, at the optimum stage of the UCL. Then Galatasaray managed to advance further after a 1-1 on home and a 3-2 away. The goal of the victory was scored in 90 + 5 minutes.
Probable teams:
Galatasaray: Musler – Mariano, Donk, Maicon, Nagatomo – N’Diaye, Inan, Belhanda – Onyekuru, Gumus, Rodrigues
Schalke: Nübel – Caligiuri, Naldo, Sane, Mendyl – Mascarell, Rudy, McKennie – Uth, Embolo, Konoplyanka
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.83
