Fresh from their first defeat of the 2019-20 campaign, Real Madrid will travel to Galatasaray in the group stages of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Madrid suffered a 1-0 loss at Mallorca in La Liga on Saturday night, while they have only picked up one point from their two Group A fixtures thus far - the same as their hosts on matchday two.
Match preview
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Galatasaray are actually without a win in their last seven Champions League matches, which is not a run of form that will fill their fans with too much confidence ahead of Tuesday's affair. The Turkish outfit opened their Group A campaign with a goalless draw away to Club Brugge before losing 1-0 at home to Paris Saint-Germain.
The back-to-back matches against Madrid will ultimately determine whether Fatih Terim's side are capable of making an impression in this season's competition, but they have lost each of their last five Champions League games against the Spanish giants, conceding 10 times in their last two defeats.
Turkish champions for a record 22nd time last season, Galatasaray have not been at their best in the early stages of the current Super Lig campaign, winning just three of their eight matches to sit fourth in the table.
Friday's 3-2 win over Sivasspor was the first time that they had been victorious in any competition since the middle of September, but three points on Tuesday night would leave them in a good position as PSG are widely expected to overcome Club Brugge in Group A's other contest.
That said, the Istanbul giants, who reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1989, have only won one of their last 17 matches against Spanish sides in European competition, suffering 12 defeats in the process.
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Madrid surrendered first spot in La Liga on Saturday with a 1-0 loss at Mallorca leaving them second behind Barcelona. Despite the defeat, Los Blancos have made an encouraging start to the 2019-20 La Liga campaign, although their form in the Champions League has been disappointing to say the least.
A PSG side without the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani beat them 3-0 in their Group A opener on September 18, before Club Brugge claimed a point at the Bernabeu on October 1.
Zinedine Zidane's side are far from in a terminal position, but the back-to-back games against Galatasaray are hugely important ahead of what is shaping up to be a huge home clash with PSG on November 26.
Last season was actually the first time since 2009-10 that Madrid had failed to reach at least the semi-finals of the Champions League. What's more, they have lost three of their last five games in the competition, conceding three or more goals in each of those defeats.
That said, Los Blancos have triumphed in 14 of their last 23 away matches in Europe, while they recorded a thumping 6-1 victory over Galatasaray when they last travelled to the Turkish giants in September 2013.
Galatasaray form: DL
Real Madrid form: LD
Team News
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Radamel Falcao's fitness is the main talking point surrounding the home side's team selection on Tuesday night, with the experienced striker struggling to overcome an Achilles issue.
The Colombian has missed his team's last four matches with the problem, although there is an outside chance that he could be involved against Madrid.
On-loan Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina is out with a thigh injury, though, while Emre Akbaba is not expected to return until 2020 after breaking his leg in May.
Christian Luyindama was not involved for DR Congo over the international break due to a thigh problem, but the centre-back featured for 75 minutes against Sivasspor on Friday night and should start.
As for Madrid, Dani Carvajal and Eden Hazard were both left out of the squad for the Mallorca clash, but the pair will return for the trip to Turkey.
Nacho, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio will again miss out through injury, but Toni Kroos has returned to the squad and could start alongside Casemiro and Federico Valverde in central midfield.
Summer arrival Ferland Mendy was on the bench against Mallorca and could feature, while Raphael Varane is almost certain to return to the XI after Zidane decided not to use his fellow Frenchman on Saturday night.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup: Muslera; Marcao, Luyindama, Donk; Nagatomo, Seri, N'Zonzi, Mariano; Babel, Andone, Belhanda
Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Mendy; Kroos, Casemiro, Valverde; Vinicius, Benzema, Hazard
We say: Galatasaray 1-2 Real Madrid
Both teams will enter Tuesday's match confident of picking up a positive result. It would not be a surprise to see a draw in Istanbul, but we just fancy Madrid to have enough to record an important three points.
Matt Law
