Galatasaray will face Czech Republic’s Sparta Prague team in the first match of the UEFA Europa League last 16 play-off round on Thursday, February 15.
The match, which will start at 20.45 at RAMS Park, will be broadcast on the EXXEN platform. Spanish referee Alejandro Hernandez will referee the match. Hernandez’s assistants will be Jose Naranjo and Diego Sanchez Rojo.
Galatasaray, the last champion of the Super League, entered the groups in the UEFA Champions League, where it started from the 2nd qualifying round, passing Lithuania’s Zalgiris, Slovenia’s Olimpija and Norway’s Molde, respectively.
The yellow-reds completed Group A, which included Germany’s Bayern Munich, Denmark’s Copenhagen and England’s Manchester United, with 1 win, 2 draws and 3 defeats. “Cimbom” came third with 5 points and earned the right to continue on its way to “Cup 2”.
Czech League champion Sparta Prague was eliminated in the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League by Copenhagen, which would later be relegated to Galatasaray’s group. Sparta Prague, which eliminated Croatian representative Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Europa League play-off round, made its name in the groups.
Competing in Group C with Scotland’s Rangers, Spain’s Real Betis and Greek Cypriot Administration’s Aris Limassol, the Czech Republic had 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Sparta Prague finished the group in second place with 10 points and advanced to the play-off round.
The rematch between the two teams will be held in Czech Republic on Thursday, February 22. The team that passes the match, which will be played according to the double-match elimination method, will advance to the last 16 rounds.
THEIR SITUATION IN THEIR LEAGUES
Both teams carrying the last champion epaulette are at the top of the leadership in their national leagues.
Galatasaray had 21 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat in the Super League, which was in its 25th week. Having won the last 6 matches, the yellow-reds are the leader with 66 points, 2 points ahead of their closest follower, Fenerbahçe.
Sparta Prague had 17 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in 20 matches in the Czech League. Having won the last 7 matches, the capital Prague representative is in first place with 53 points, 5 points ahead of its closest follower, Slavia Prague.
HE WAS DEFEATED ONCE ON THE FIELD THIS SEASON
Galatasaray was defeated only once in official home matches this season.
The yellow-red team won all 13 Super League matches and 2 Ziraat Turkish Cup matches in front of their fans this season.
“Cimbom”, which won all 3 home matches in the UEFA Champions League, experienced 2 draws and 1 defeat in 3 matches in the group stage. Galatasaray suffered the loss in question against Bayern Munich.
AFRICAN CHAMPION AURIER WILL APPEAR
New transfer Serge Aurier, who won the African Cup of Nations championship with the Ivory Coast National Team of which he is the captain, will wear the yellow-red jersey for the first time tomorrow if coach Okan Buruk gives the task.
Ivory Coast won the championship by beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the tournament it hosted. New transfer Aurier, who played for his country, came to Turkey after the organization and started training with the team.
The experienced right-back will experience his first excitement with his new team in front of his fans if Okan Buruk gives him the jersey.
Abdülkerim and Oliveira will return to the team
Abdülkerim Bardakcı and Sergio Oliveira, who have recovered from their injuries in the yellow-red team, will be able to play in tomorrow’s match.
Abdülkerim, who was injured in the away match against Trabzonspor on January 21 in the 22nd week of the Super League, missed 4 Super League and 1 Turkish Cup match.
Oliveira, who injured his pectoral muscle during training and completed his treatment in his country Portugal, where he underwent surgery, will return to the field in approximately 2 months. The experienced midfielder, who played his last match on December 8, 2023, could not play in 10 Super League matches and 2 Turkish Cup matches.
Hakim Ziyech, who is injured in Galatasaray, will not be able to play in tomorrow’s match.
NEW TRANSFER KÖHN WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WEAR THE JERSEY
Derrick Köhn, one of the new transfers in the yellow-red team, will not be able to play in tomorrow’s match due to the status.
Galatasaray added Carlos Vinicius, Serge Aurier and Derrich Köhn to its squad during the interim transfer period. Berkan Kutlu, who was loaned to Italian representative Genoa at the beginning of the season, also returned to the team.
Galatasaray, which was able to make 3 changes in the squad reported to UEFA at the beginning of the season, added Vinicius, Aurier and Berkan to the list instead of Sacha Boey, Angelino and Cedric Bakambu, who left the team. Köhn, whose transfer was made after the notification to UEFA, was left out of the European squad.
Galatasaray will not be able to benefit from young football player Eyüp Aydın, who is not in the UEFA squad.
STAFF
The following players are in the squad that Galatasaray notified to UEFA:
Fernando Muslera, Günay Güvenç, Davinson Sanchez, Kaan Ayhan, Victor Nelsson, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Kazımcan Karataş, Serge Aurier, Kerem Demirbay, Berkan Kutlu, Hakim Ziyech, Serge Oliveira, Lucas Torreira, Tanguy Ndombele, Kerem Aktürkoğlu, Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens , Wilfried Zaha, Tete, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Carlos Vinicius.
Familiar name in Sparta Prague
David Pavelka, who is well known in Turkish football, plays for the Czech Republic representative.
The 32-year-old midfielder, who played for Kasımpaşa, one of the Super League teams, between 2016 and 2020, has been playing in Sparta Prague for the last 3.5 seasons.
Pavelka, who played in 125 official matches with the dark blue-white jersey, 108 of which were in the Super League and 17 in the Turkish Cup, enjoyed scoring 3 times in the league and 2 times in the cup.
The Czech football player played 7 matches against Galatasaray, all in the league, and saw 3 wins and 4 defeats.