Galatasaray seek repeat of Madrid victory

The opening fixture in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League offers Galatasaray AŞ the chance of revenge over the side who ended their hopes in last season's quarter-finals. Real Madrid CF went on to depart in the semi-finals for the third successive season and the Spanish giants start again with the aim of lifting Europe's greatest club prize for a tenth time.  

Previous meetings
• Last season's contest was effectively decided in the Madrid first leg with the home team easing to a 3-0 win courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuaín.

• Ronaldo extended Madrid's advantage in the Istanbul return before a three-goal burst from Emmanuel Eboué (57), Wesley Sneijder (70) and Didier Drogba (72) gave Galatasary hope. Ronaldo's third of the tie in added time eased Madrid's progress to a 24th semi-final.

• The lineups at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium on 9 April 2013 were:
Galatasaray: Muslera, Eboué (Elmander 80), Gökhan Zan, Semih Kaya, Riera, Hamit Altıntop (Amrabat 46), Felipe Melo, Selçuk İnan, Sneijder, Umut Bulut (Sabri Sarıoğlu 63), Drogba.
Madrid: Diego López, Essien (Arbeloa 31), Varane, Pepe, Fábio Coentrão, Di María, Khedira, Modrić, Özil (Albiol 81), Ronaldo, Higuaín (Benzema 73).

• The clubs' three previous encounters all took place in 2000/01, starting with Galatasaray's 2-1 triumph in the UEFA Super Cup in Monaco. Although Raúl González's 79th-minute penalty cancelled out a Mário Jardel (41) spot kick, Jardel's second goal on 103 minutes secured Galatasaray a second European honour three months after their UEFA Cup triumph – a first for a Turkish team.

• Three players who took part in the UEFA Super Cup game are now part of Galatasaray's coaching staff: goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel and midfield duo Hasan Şaş and Ümit Davala. 

• The same trio were also involved as a Galatasaray side coached by Mircea Lucescu made life awkward for Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals later that season. The games followed a similar course to last season's last-eight meetings, the Turkish side winning 3-2 in Istanbul. Iván Helguera (33) and Claude Makelele (43) put Madrid 2-0 up but Galatasaray responded through Ümit Davala's penalty (47), Hasan Şaş (66) and Jardel (75).

• Vicente del Bosque's Madrid shrugged off that loss with a 3-0 win back in the Spanish capital as Raúl (15, 37) and Helguera (28) took the defending champions through to a semi-final they would lose against FC Bayern München.

• Iker Casillas is the only survivor of those games 12 years ago.

• Last season's defeat of Madrid ended Galatasaray's 12-game winless run against Spanish sides – featuring four draws and eight losses – stretching back to their 2001 success against the Merengues.

Match background
• Galatasaray are embarking on their second successive UEFA Champions League campaign having not played in the group stage since 2006/07 before last season. Then they lost their first two games, away to Manchester United FC and at home to SC Braga, and then drew at home to CFR 1907 Cluj. They won their last three group fixtures and overcame FC Schalke 04 in the round of 16; the quarter-final victory over Madrid means they have lost only two of their last 14 European fixtures in Istanbul.

• Liga runners-up in 2012/13, in the last three seasons under José Mourinho Madrid scored in all 18 UEFA Champions League away fixtures, losing only four. Last season they were Group D runners-up behind Borussia Dortmund. The two sides met again in the semi-finals when a 4-1 reverse in Germany was Madrid's third loss in their six away fixtures. They won the home leg 2-0 but bowed out 4-3 on aggregate.

• Last season Madrid began with a 3-2 home win against Manchester City FC, making it six successive victories at the start of the competition. Away in the group they won at AFC Ajax 4-1, drew 1-1 at Manchester City and lost 2-1 in Dortmund, also triumphing 2-1 at Manchester United FC in the round of 16.

Team ties
• Fatih Terim's record as a coach against Spanish clubs is W4 D2 L6. His Turkey team lost 1-0 to Spain at the Bernabéu in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match on 28 March 2009. Hakan Balta and substitute Sabri Sarıoğlu featured for the visitors, Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso for the hosts.

• The teams met again four days later when Spain overturned Semih Şentürk's first-half effort through Alonso's 63rd-minute penalty and an added-time winner by Albert Riera.

• At UEFA EURO 2008 Terim's Turkey suffered an opening 2-0 defeat by Portugal who featured Pepe, scorer of the first goal, and Ronaldo. Pepe scored an own goal when Portugal, who also included Fábio Coentrão, lost a home friendly against Turkey in June 2012, Umut Bulut scoring twice in a 3-1 win.

• Terim was replaced as AC Milan coach in 2001/02 by Carlo Ancelotti. Ümit Davala, now an assistant coach with the Turkish champions, played seven matches under Ancelotti that season.

• Ancelotti, who is starting out on a sixth UEFA Champions League campaign with a new club, got off to a winning start with all his previous teams: Parma FC, Juventus, Milan, Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain FC. A UEFA Champions League winner as a coach with Milan in 2003 and 2007, Ancelotti has recorded three wins and a draw in four matches against Turkish opposition.

• Riera faced Madrid seven times while with RCD Mallorca and RCD Espanyol, scoring twice, with a record W3 D2 L2. At Liverpool FC he was a team-mate of Álvaro Arbeloa and Alonso and featured in a 1-0 win at the Bernabéu in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16.

• Wesley Sneijder spent two seasons with Madrid from 2007, scoring 11 goals in 52 Liga appearances. He also won the 2010 UEFA Champions League final at the Bernabéu with FC Internazionale Milano, beating FC Bayern München.

• Sneijder played for the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final won 1-0 by a Spain team containing Casillas, Alonso and Ramos.

• Didier Drogba worked with Ancelotti at Chelsea FC for two seasons from 2009, winning the Premier League title and FA Cup.

• Hamit Altıntop played five Liga matches for Madrid in 2011/12, scoring once.

• Felipe Melo spent four seasons in Spain from 2004 to 2008, playing for Mallorca, Real Racing Club and UD Almería. He scored for Racing in a 2-1 Liga victory in Madrid in December 2005.

• Karim Benzema's penalty earned France a 1-0 home friendly win against Turkey in June 2009.