Galatasaray take on Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League tonight knowing a defeat will extinguish any hopes they have of qualifying to the next round.
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The Istanbul giants have had a turbulent start to the season and are under pressure from fans and pundits alike despite getting off to their best start to a season since 2009-10.
Galatasaray go into the game on the back of a victory over Kasimpasa in the Turkish Super League. Goals from strikers Burak Yilmaz and Umut Bulut giving them a 2-1 win on Friday.
Manager Cesare Prandelli is expected to scrap the 3-5-2 he has been trying to implement since the start of the season in favour of a 4-4-2 system which the players are familiar with.
The Italian manager will be hoping Felipe Melo who sustained a thigh injury will pass a late fitness test to be included in the starting XI.
[box type=”shadow”] Galatasaray: Muslera; Tarık Çamdal, Semih Kaya, Chedjou, Alex Telles; Felipe Melo, Selçuk İnan; Hamit Altıntop, Sneijder; Burak, Bulut. [/box]
Borussia Dortmund go into the game second from bottom of the Bundesliga after five straight league defeats, including a 2-1 loss at the hands of rivals Bayern Munich last weekend.
However, the Champions League has given the German giants some brief respite from their domestic struggles having won three out of three Group D matches. A victory against the Lions will guarantee their spot in the competition’s Last 16.
One of the reasons for this may be that Dortmund are for more comfortable sitting back and using their pace in attack to counter teams, which they have been able to do in Europe whereas in the Bundesliga they are up against sides who defend deep and leave very little room for Dortmund’s pacy players to run into.
[box type=”shadow”] Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotić, Papastathopoulos, Durm; Gündoğan, Bender; Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Reus; Immobile. [/box]
Prediction:
Galatasaray have taken just one point from their opening three games and will need to attack which will play into Dortmund’s hands.
Dortmund 3 – 1 Galatasaray
