Our prediction for this Champions League match:
Galatasaray
Match Time & Date:
15/08/2023
01:00 PM
Prediction: 2-0
Olimpija Ljubljana
Galatasaray will be aiming to seal their spot in the final qualifying round when they host Olimpija Ljubljana to their Rams Park on Tuesday evening. Galatasaray rolled over Olimpija 3-0 in Slovenia even without several first-team regulars in the starting XI, but their display in Saturday’s goalless draw with Kayserispor was anything but good. However, home win should be considered this time out as both Mauro Icardi and summer signing Wilfried Zaha should be recalled to the starting XI. Fellow new recruit Nicolo Zaniolo misses out with injury.
The Slovenians, on the other hand, are low on confidence ahead of the trip to Istanbul and seeing that Galatasaray have turned their stadium into a real fortress, anything but a routine home win would be a big surprise. To make things even worse for the visiting side, forward Timi Elsnik limped off with injury in a 2-1 win over Domzale at the weekend.
Highlighted Player (Dries Mertens):
Dries Mertens is a Belgian football player born on the 6th of May 1987 in Leuven. Mertens started his football career in the youth of RSC Anderlecht and AA Gent. In season 2005/2006 he made his debut for the first team of AA Gent.
After playing for AGOVV, FC Utrecht and PSV Mertens got transferred to Napoli for approximately 9.5 million euro. Mertens made his debut for the Belgian national team in October 2010 and played over 40 games for the national team already. Mertens played during World Cup 2014 and EURO 2016 for Belgium.
Mertens is a right attacking midfielder, which can play as a forward as well. Mertens is known for being a very small fast player, which has the ability to get past several defenders and deliver a cross to his team mates. In his career Mertens didn’t win any big prizes yet. The biggest achievements of Mertens are winning the Dutch national cup with PSV in 2011/2012, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa in 2014 with Napoli.
Highlighted Team (Galatasaray):
Over the years Galatasaray have established themselves as one of the best teams in Turkey. The Aslanlar (the Lions) were founded back in October 1905 by Ali Sami Yen and fellow students of Galatasaray High School. Ali Sami Yen himself was the club’s first president and, as a result, he was given the club’s membership No. 1.
The Gala are one of the most successful Turkish teams and it has to be noted that they won their 21st Super Lig trophy in the 2017/2018 season. The capital club collected 75 points from possible 102, with the team finishing the season three points clear of their bitter rivals Fenerbahce. Speaking of European success, Galatasaray won UEFA Cup in the 1999/2000 season, with the team beating Arsenal on penalties in the title game.
In 2000 the Lions won UEFA Super cup as they outplayed star-studded Real Madrid 2-1 at Stade Louis II in Monaco. Galatasaray play their home games at Turk Telekom Stadi and they are well known for their yellow and red jerseys.
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