Benfica in need of Galatasaray turnaround

Galatasaray AŞ notched their first win in Europe in 11 matches with their home defeat of SL Benfica on matchday three. It revived their challenge for the qualifying places and put them in good heart for the return fixture.

• They were the first points Benfica have dropped in Group C and mean that, although they share first place with Club Atlético de Madrid, their advantage over their Turkish opponents is now only two points.

Previous meetings
• The teams met in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage when Emre Aşık and Ümit Karan struck in Galatasaray's 2-0 away victory. Luisão played in that contest.

• The lineups at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on 6 November 2008 were:
Benfica: Quim, Maxi Pereira, Luisão, Sidnei, Jorge Ribeiro, Di María, Katsouranis, Yebda (Carlos Martins 64), Reyes (Aimar 57), Nuno Gomes (Óscar Cardozo 60), Suazo.
Galatasaray: De Sanctis, Sabri Sarıoğlu, Servet Çetin, Emre Aşık, Hakan Balta, Lincoln, Fernando Meira, Ayhan Akman, Arda Turan (Volkan Yaman 90+3), Baroš (Mehmet Güven 81), Ümit Karan (Yıldız 84).

Match background

Benfica
• Competing in their 11th UEFA Champions League group stage, Benfica began with a 2-0 home victory over FC Astana and then beat Club Atlético de Madrid 2-1 away.

• In 2012/13 they edged out Fenerbahçe (0-1 away, 3-1 home) in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals but then lost 2-1 to Chelsea FC in the final.

• The 2008 defeat by Galatasaray is Benfica's only blemish in an otherwise faultless home record against Turkish sides. They won all four other such fixtures, scoring 16 goals and conceding only once. Their overall record against Turkish clubs is W4 D2 L4.

• When the Portuguese champions – European Champion Clubs' Cup winners in 1961 and 1962 – lost 2-0 to FC Zenit on last season's matchday one it was their first reverse in 14 European home encounters (W11 D2).

• Their other two home games last season produced a win and a draw, but it did not prevent them finishing bottom of Group C with five points.

• The Eagles have qualified for the knockout rounds in only one of their last seven UEFA Champions League campaigns (2011/12). That year Chelsea FC beat them 3-1 overall in the quarter-finals.

Galatasaray
• Cimbom's only other visit to face Portuguese opposition also resulted in victory, winning 2-1 at SC Braga in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage with Burak Yılmaz on the scoresheet to book their place in the round of 16. They had lost the reverse fixture 2-0.

• The Turkish double winners, who are in their 14th group stage campaign and their fourth in succession, started this season with a 2-0 home defeat by Atlético before drawing 2-2 at Astana.

• In last season's group stage Galatasaray suffered successive 4-1 defeats on their travels against Arsenal FC and then Borussia Dortmund before a third reversal, 2-0 at RSC Anderlecht, to finish bottom of Group D.

• Galatasarasay have not won an away UEFA Champions League match since a 3-2 victory at FC Schalke 04 in the 2012/13 round of 16 second leg – their third away win in a row and one that secured a 4-3 aggregate triumph. Their away record since then is D2 L7.

• Cimbom's best performance came in 1988/89 when they reached the European Cup semi-finals.

Coach and player links
• Turkey were 3-1 winners in a Lisbon friendly on 2 June 2012, their first victory against Portugal in 57 years. Four Galatasaray players – Selçuk İnan, Hamit Altıntop, Burak Yılmaz and Umut Bulut – were involved, Umut scoring twice.

• Lukas Podolski scored past Júlio César in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League group stage as FC Bayern München won 2-0 at FC Internazionale Milano. 

• Have played together:
Fernando Muslera and Eliseu (SS Lazio, 2009/10)
Wesley Sneijder and Júlio César (Inter, 2009–12)
Lionel Carole and André Almeida (SL Benfica B, 2012/13)
Carole and Jardel (SL Benfica, 2010/11 – SL Benfica B, 2012/13)
Carole and Luisão (SL Benfica, 2010/11)

Match facts

Benfica
• Luisão and Jardel will incur a suspension with their next bookings. Andreas Samaris serves a one-game ban.

• Benfica's 55-match unbeaten home Liga run ended on 25 October when they lost 3-0 to a Sporting Clube de Portugal side coached by former Eagles tactician Jorge Jesus.

• Jonas has scored eight goals in his last eight Portuguese Liga outings.

• Renato Sanches, 18 and a member of Benfica's UEFA Youth League squad, made his first-team debut in Friday's 4-0 win at struggling CD Tondela. Clésio Baúque limped off during the second half.

• Ljubomir Fejsa injured his right foot against Sporting.

• Benfica will visit Sporting in the Portuguese Cup fourth round on 22 November.

Galatasaray
• Selçuk and Burak are a booking away from a ban.

• Galatasaray are eight games unbeaten in all competitions since their matchday one defeat.

• Cimbom recorded their biggest win of the season when they defeated Eskişehirspor 4-0 on 29 October, Burak scoring twice.

• Jem-Paul Karacan made his first start of the campaign against Eskişehirspor, when Koray Günter appeared in a competitive match for the first time this term.

• The Eskişehirspor fixture was Hamza Hamzaoğlu's 50th as Galatasaray coach (W33 D9 L8).

• Hamit has resumed light training, having undergone a left knee operation in early August.