Benfica v Galatasaray background

This is the only UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie to feature two teams who spent the autumn in the UEFA Champions League, and Benfica, the record champions of Portugal, have the edge over their Turkish counterparts Galatasaray as they return to Lisbon with a 2-1 victory from the first leg in Istanbul.

• Both clubs finished third in their UEFA Champions League group, Benfica behind Bayern München and Ajax in Group E with seven points and Galatasaray below Porto and Schalke in Group D with four.

Previous meetings
• Benfica's in-form Swiss international striker Haris Seferović was the match-winner in Istanbul, scoring the winning goal ten minutes after Galatasaray's Christian Luyindama had equalised Eduardo Salvio's first-half penalty.

• The clubs had met on three occasions before this tie, Galatasaray beating Benfica 2-0 away in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage before both teams won their home fixture 2-1 in the 2015/16 UEFA Champions League group stage; Selçuk İnan scored in Istanbul and Jonas did likewise in Lisbon.

• Benfica's record in 16 matches against Turkish opponents is W7 D5 L4, with a home record of W6 D1 L1, that 2008/09 defeat by Galatasaray being the only time the Eagles have been beaten in front of their own fans. The Lisbon club have already won at home to Turkish opposition this season, overcoming Fenerbahçe 1-0 (and 2-1 on aggregate) in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, Franco Cervi scoring the decisive goal.

• Galatasaray had likewise already met Portuguese opposition this term before the first leg, losing twice against Porto in the UEFA Champions League group stage, the first defeat a 1-0 reverse at the Estádio do Dragão on matchday two. Their overall record in Portugal is W2 L2.

Form guide
Benfica
• Portuguese Liga runners-up in 2017/18 after a club-record four successive league titles, Benfica kicked off their European season in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League with that 2-1 aggregate win against Fenerbahçe before PAOK were defeated in the play-offs (1-1 home, 4-1 away) to send the Lisbon club into the group stage for the ninth season in a row – and 14th in all.

• Having finished bottom of their group with zero points in 2017/18, the Eagles won home and away against AEK Athens to claim third place in Group E, their only other point coming in a 1-1 draw at home to Ajax.

• Benfica are in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase for the fifth time, their four previous round of 32 ties having all featured victories in both legs – against BATE Borisov in 2009/10 (2-0 home, 2-1 away), Stuttgart in 2010/11 (2-1 home, 2-0 away), Bayer Leverkusen in 2012/13 (1-0 away, 2-1 home) and PAOK in 2013/14 (1-0 home, 3-0 away).

• Benfica have been defeated in ten of their last 18 European fixtures (W5 D3) and they have not scored more than one goal in any of their last 12 European games in Lisbon, managing just nine in total. However, they have never lost at home in any phase of the UEFA Europa League, registering 17 wins and two draws.

• Benfica have lost only one of 18 UEFA competition ties after winning the first leg away – fifty years ago against Ajax in the European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals, when they followed a 3-1 win in Amsterdam with a home defeat by the same scoreline and subsequently lost a Paris play-off 3-0. On the last of the four occasions that they won the first leg 2-1 on the road, against PAOK in the second round of the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup, they required a penalty shoot-out win in Lisbon to progress.

Galatasaray
• Turkish champions in 2017/18 for a record 21st time, Galatasaray qualified for a 15th appearance in the UEFA Champions League group stage – the same number as all other Turkish teams combined.

• After opening Group D with an impressive 3-0 home win against Lokomotiv, the Istanbul side picked up only one further point from their last five games, failing to score in three away defeats.

• Galatasaray are in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 for the third time. Their previous two ties at this stage both ended in elimination – by eventual winners Atlético Madrid in the inaugural 2009/10 season (1-1 away, 1-2 home) and Lazio in 2015/16 (1-1 home, 1-3 away).

• The Istanbul club have lost all of their last seven European away fixtures, failing to score in five of them. That sequence started with the 2-1 defeat at Benfica in 2015/16. They have not won a European match outside Turkey since a 3-2 victory at Schalke in the second leg of the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League round of 16; their record on the road since then is D2 L14.

• Galatasaray have been defeated at home in the first leg of a UEFA competition tie on five previous occasions. They lost the first four of those ties but triumphed in the most recent, knocking Baník Ostrava out of the 1991/92 European Cup Winners' Cup second round on away goals (0-1 home, 2-1 away).

UEFA Europa League squad changes
• Benfica
In: João Félix, Andreas Samaris, Ivan Zlobin
Out: Alfa Semedo, Nicolas Castillo, Facundo Ferreyra, Pedro Amaral, Bruno Varela

• Galatasaray
In: Marcão, Mbaye Diagne, Christian Luyindama
Out: Eren Derdiyok, Maicon, Serdar Aziz, Garry Rodrigues

Links and trivia 
• Galatasaray's Fernando was in the Porto squad that won the UEFA Europa League in 2011. The Brazilian midfielder played 236 matches in all competitions for Porto between 2008 and 2014, scoring six goals, and won four Liga titles, three Portuguese Cups and five domestic Super Cups with the club. He had spent 2007/08 on loan at Estrela da Amadora.

• Sofiane Feghouli (Galatasaray) and Jonas played together at Valencia from 2011–14, the latter having started his career alongside Galatasaray defender Mariano at Brazilian club Guarani.

• Galatasaray's January signing Marcão moved to Portugal in summer 2017, spending the following campaign at Rio Ave. He spent the first half of the current campaign at Chaves.

• Luyindama, Galatasaray's new loan signing from Standard Liège, was an ever-present starter for the Belgian club in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• Prior to the first leg Galatasaray's most recent UEFA Europa League appearance was in last season's second qualifying round, when they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Swedish debutants Östersund, whereas Benfica's last outing in the competition was the 2014 final in Turin against Sevilla.

• Benfica have played more matches in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase than any other club (33). They reached the quarter-finals in 2010, the semi-finals in 2011, and successive finals in 2013 and 2014 – which they lost, respectively, to Chelsea in Amsterdam (1-2) and Sevilla in Turin (0-0, 2-4 on penalties). In contrast, they have played just six games in the group stage and none since 2009/10.

Penalty shoot-outs
• Benfica's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
4-1 v Torpedo Moskva, 1977/78 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 1987/88 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
4-1 v PAOK, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round
2-4 v Sevilla, 2013/14 UEFA Europa League final

• Galatasaray's record in one UEFA shoot-out is W1 L0:
4-1 v Arsenal, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup final

The coaches
• Bruno Lage was appointed as Benfica coach on 14 January until the end of the season, having previously been in charge of the club's B team then served in an interim capacity following Rui Vitória's dismissal earlier that month. On 19 February, he agreed a contract until 2023. The 42-year-old from Setubal (also José Mourinho's home town) has never previously served as a head coach in the top flight, although he has considerable experience in auxiliary roles. He was Benfica's youth coach from 2004–12 and subsequently worked in English football as the assistant to Carlos Carvalhal at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea.

• A Turkish coaching legend, 65-year-old Fatih Terim is in his fourth spell at Galatasaray, having rejoined the club in December 2017 after concluding a third stint in charge of the Turkish national side, whom he famously guided to the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2008. A Galatasaray centre-back for over a decade, winning 51 international caps, he never won the Turkish title as a player but has steered the Istanbul club to seven as a coach, including four in a row in his first spell that concluded with a landmark victory in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup.