Real Madrid to get up and running in Istanbul
Two of the three winless teams of Group A meet in Istanbul, as the most successful team in Champions League history take on the Turkish champions Galatasaray at Turk Telekom Stadium. Zinedine Zidane’s men are rooted to the bottom of the group standings on goal difference following their crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on matchday one, yet The Yellow-Reds are not much better off having failed to find the back of the net in the campaign. Fatih Terim’s Lions have flattered to deceive in the Super Lig this season, sitting in fifth place while unlikely front runners Alanyaspor are top.
Previous meetings
Turkey has been a happy hunting ground for the Galacticos in recent years especially over the reigning champions who they have beaten on the night on six of the last seven occasions, the only anomaly in that run being when they lost 3-2 in 2013 however they still progressed as Bayern Munich went on to win the crown. Since then it has been a 6-1, 4-1, 2-1 onslaught and Tuesday night is expected to be a similar outcome given Real Madrid return to consistent performances in La Liga.
Recent form
The hosts have only won one of their last six outings and so the visit of Real Madridis not one they are welcoming of the horizon. It is a tall order with PSGalso drawn in Group A and the heavyweight that is Sergio Ramos and co will assert their authority in this one. Galatasaray also failed to score in three consecutive games before their stress relieving 3-2 win over Sivasspor last time out. Madrid on the other hand slipped up at the weekend, going down 1-0 to Mallorca in a match they were huge favourites to win.
Tuesday provides the perfect opportunity to bounce back and explode their Champions League campaign into life. It was Real’s first loss in La Ligathis season, demonstrating a minor bump in the road from a team heading in the right direction following an extremely disappointing 2018/19 season under Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari.
One to watch
Eden Hazard is off the mark now for the Galacticos, having broken his duck against Granada in his last appearance. He should have another successful outing against another inferior opponent, such that he often thrived against in the Premier League with Chelsea, this match is an opportunity for the Belgian and Zizou to put the Mallorca defeat behind them and make a statement to the rest of the competition.
Real Madrid will run away with it in Istanbul and effectively end Galatasaray’s bid to qualify into the Champions League knockout stages.
Galatasaray – Real Madrid Betting Tip
Real Madrid to Win with Unibet at odds of 13/20.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
Toni Kross grabbed the only goal of the game as Real picked up their first win of the campaign.