Galatasaray v Schalke background

Galatasaray will look for a repeat of their last dominant home performance as they welcome Schalke to Istanbul with the race to qualify from Group D starting to hot up.

• The Turkish team are on three points having won their first home match but lost away last time out, and trail Schalke – and Porto – by a point. The German club picked up an away win in their most recent fixture despite leaving it late.

Previous meetings
• Galatasaray came out on top when the teams met in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League round of 16. A 1-1 draw in Istanbul left the tie in the balance, but the Turkish side – coached then, as now, by Fatih Terim – progressed to the last eight thanks to a 3-2 success in Gelsenkirchen, Umut Bulut scoring the winner deep into added time. Galatasaray went on to lose to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.

• Selçuk İnan set up three of Galatasaray's four goals in that tie, including the one in the home first leg, while Fernando Muslera also played in both legs.

Form guide
Galatasaray
• Having opened with an impressive 3-0 defeat of Lokomotiv Moskva, Galatasaray's momentum was checked by a 1-0 loss at Porto in their second fixture.

• The win against Loko ended a run of three successive home 1-1 draws in Europe for Galatasaray, who have nevertheless won only two of their last ten continental fixtures in Istanbul, drawing five.

• Turkish champions in 2017/18, Galatasaray last reached the UEFA Champions League round of 16 in 2013/14.

• Galatasaray are in the group stage for the 15th time – the same number as all other Turkish teams combined.

• The Istanbul club's 2017/18 European campaign lasted only one tie – they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Swedish club Östersund in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

• Cimbom's last home game against Bundesliga visitors ended in a 4-0 UEFA Champions League group stage defeat by Borussia Dortmund in October 2014. The Turkish team have not won in their last seven home games against German clubs (D4 L3) – a run lasting 26 years.

• Galatasaray are the only team from Turkey to have reached a European Cup semi-final, in 1989.

Schalke
• An 88th-minute goal from Weston McKennie earned Schalke a 1-0 win at Lokomotiv Moskva last time out, the German club' having been held 1-1 at home by Porto in their first Group D fixture.

• Schalke have won their last three away UEFA Champions League fixtures, including a remarkable 4-3 success at Real Madrid in the 2014/15 round of 16 second leg – although they were eliminated 5-4 on aggregate.

• Die Königsblauen have lost only two of their last 13 away European engagements (W8 D3).

• Bundesliga runners-up in 2017/18 – their highest league placing since 2009/10 – this is Schalke's first UEFA Champions League group campaign since 2014/15, their third successive appearance.

• The German club did not take part in European competition last season, having reached the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals in 2016/17, where they lost to eventual runners-up Ajax.

• Semi-finalists in 2011, Schalke's last three UEFA Champions League campaigns have all ended in the round of 16.

• Schalke have drawn all three of their away games against Turkish clubs, sharing 3-3 draws with both Trabzonspor and Fenerbahçe prior to the 2013 game at Galatasaray that ended 1-1.

Links and trivia
• Younès Belhanda spent the second half of 2015/16 on loan at Schalke, scoring twice in his 15 Bundesliga appearances.

• Have played together:
Mariano & Yevhen Konoplyanka (Sevilla 2015/16)
Younès Belhanda & Benjamin Stambouli (Montpellier 2009–13)
Eren Derdiyok & Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim 2012/13)

• Have played in Germany:
Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen 2009–12 & 2013/14, Hoffenheim 2012/13)
Sinan Gümüş (Stuttgart II 2012–14)

• Sinan Gümüş was born in the German town of Pfullendorf.

• International team-mates:
Younès Belhanda & Hamza Mendyl, Amine Harit (Morocco)
Badou Ndiaye & Salif Sané (Senegal)
Sofiane Feghouli & Nabil Bentaleb (Algeria)
Eren Derdiyok & Breel Embolo (Switzerland)

• Schalke midfielder Benjamin Goller's surname translates as "Goals" in Turkish.

Latest news

Galatasaray
• Galatasaray lost 5-4 on penalties to Akhisar after a 1-1 draw in the Turkish Super Cup on 5 August.

• Galatasaray are unbeaten in 24 Turkish Super League matches at home, winning 21 of them including 16 in a row before Friday's 1-1 draw with Bursaspor. Their last defeat was a 1-3 loss against Kasımpaşa on 6 May 2017.

• The Bursaspor game was the first time Galatasaray had dropped points at home in the league since a 0-0 draw against Fenerbahçe on 22 October 2017.

• Overall, 13 of Galatasaray's 17 goals in Super League fixtures this term have been scored at home.

• Ryan Donk scored his first league goal for Galatasaray in a 1-0 success at Antalyaspor on 6 October.

• Selçuk İnan has been a second-half substitute in both Galatasaray's UEFA Champions League matches so far – his only appearances since 19 August due to a groin injury until he came on as a 42nd-minute substitute on Friday.

• Emre Akbaba was replaced in the 32nd minute against Erzurumspor, tests subsequently revealing a broken metatarsal in his left foot that required surgery on 30 September.

• Henry Onyekuru is expected to be out for at least four weeks having suffered a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.

• Serdar Aziz (groin), Sofiane Feghouli (thigh) and Fernando (thigh) all had to be replaced during the first half against Bursaspor.

• Eren Derdiyok had been out since 28 September with a hamstring injury, but came on as a substitute midway through the first half to score the equaliser against Bursaspor on Friday.

• Only five of Galatasaray's 21 goals in all competitions this season have come in the first half.

• On 16 October coach Fatih Terim agreed a new two-year contract with Galatasaray with the option for a further three years.

Schalke
• Schalke lost their first five games of the new Bundesliga season, matching their start to the league campaign in 2016/17, but won the next two – making it three victories in a row in all competitions – only to go down 2-0 at home to Werder Bremen on Saturday.

• Goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann picked up an injury in the warm-up before the Bremen game and was replaced by Alexander Nübel, the 22-year-old making his first start as a professional.

• Weston McKennie, who scored his first competitive goal for Schalke on matchday two, opened his Bundesliga account in the 2-0 win at Fortuna Düsseldorf on 6 October.

• Mark Uth made his Germany debut in a 3-0 UEFA Nations League loss in the Netherlands on 13 October.

• Amine Harit, who suffered a hamstring injury on 29 September, returned against Bremen, playing 69 minutes.

• Bastian Oczipca (out since July, groin), Benjamin Stambouli (20 August, ankle) and Steven Skrzybski (14 September, muscular injury) are all back in team training.

• Cedric Teuchert scored in Germany's 2-1 win against Norway on 12 October that took them through to next summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, but then suffered a leg injury that is expected to keep him out for around eight weeks.

• Suat Serdar missed Germany's U21 games against Norway and the Republic of Ireland due to knee problems, while McKennie did not join up with the United States senior squad due to an adductor injury. Salif Sané (muscular) and Breel Embolo (shoulder) both sat out international duty; of those four, only Embolo did not appear on Saturday.

• Sascha Riether is yet to feature this season due to knee problems.

• On 17 October Naldo extended his contract until 2020.