Galatasaray seek change of fortune against CFR

Galatasaray AŞ will look to revive their UEFA Champions League ambitions when they take on CFR 1907 Cluj in Istanbul on matchday three.

• The Turkish title holders are bottom of Group H after defeats by Manchester United FC and SC Braga, three points behind CFR and second-placed Braga.

Match background
• CFR are seeking a fourth straight away victory this term having prevailed at FC Slovan Liberec and FC Basel 1893 in qualifying and Braga on matchday one.

• Galatasaray, by contrast, have won none of their last four home outings in UEFA competition. If they lose, they will have started a UEFA Champions League group stage with three defeats for only the second time – the previous instance was in 1997/98 when they finished bottom of their section.

• While this is CFR's first encounter with Turkish opponents, Galatasaray have a long history with teams from Romania and are unbeaten at home against Romanian opposition, their record reading W4 D2 L0. Their continental debut came against FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round, and ended in a 4-3 aggregate defeat.

• Galatasaray lost 5-1 on aggregate to FC Steaua Bucureşti in the 1988/89 Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finals. That Steaua side included Gheorghe Hagi, who went on to serve Galatasaray as player and coach.

Team ties
• As Turkey captain, Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim met Ioan Andone, his CFR counterpart, in a 1-1 friendly draw with Romania at the Ali Sami Yen on 29 January 1983. They went head to head again on 9 March that year, in Targu Mures, Romania winning 3-1. Terim took on Romania four times as a player, recording two draws and two defeats.

• Terim also failed to record a victory against Romania as Turkey coach. In August 2007, his side – including Hamit Altıntop, Gökhan Zan and Sabri Sarıoğlu – lost 2-0 in Bucharest. In February 1995, during a previous spell in charge, Turkey were held 1-1 by Romania in Izmir.

• Semih Kaya, Umut Bulut, Altıntop and substitute Emre Çolak were in the Turkey side beaten 1-0 at home by Romania in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 12 October.

• Altıntop and Hakan Balta played in Turkey's 2-0 friendly home win against Romania in August 2010.

• Altıntop was in the FC Bayern München team that earned home and away victories over CFR in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Fernando Muslera played in Uruguay's 1-1 draw with Romania in Bucharest in February this year.

• Nordin Amrabat struck PSV Eindhoven's second goal in a 2-0 win at CFR in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• In that same group stage campaign, Pantelis Kapetanos scored in Steaua's 3-1 loss at Fenerbahçe SK. Kapetanos and Ionuţ Rada were in the Steaua team beaten home and away by Fenerbahçe and consigned to last place.

• Kapetanos and Steaua lost home and away to Cris's Olympique Lyonnais in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• That same season Kapetanos had been an unused second-leg substitute when Steaua defeated a Galatasaray side including Hasan Şaş, now one of Terim's assistant coaches, and Hakan Balta in the third qualifying round.

• Gökhan conceded a decisive late penalty and was sent off playing for Beşiktaş JK in a 2-1 loss at FC Dinamo Bucureşti in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Eleven Romanian players have represented Galatasaray and two, Hagi and Gheorghe Popescu, were in the team that Terim led to the 2000 UEFA Cup, Turkey's first European club trophy. Hagi was sent off four minutes into extra time in the final against Arsenal FC, which his side won 4-1 on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

FARE Action Week
• Matchday three of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League will contribute to the fight against all forms of discrimination in football stadiums as UEFA gives its full support to Europe's biggest anti-discrimination campaign – the FARE Action Week. Forty matches across the competitions on 23, 24 and 25 October will restate UEFA's commitment to ensuring that European football is free of racism, intolerance and xenophobia.