Our prediction for this Champions League match:
Young Boys
Match Time & Date:
21/08/2024
12:00 PM
Prediction: 1-2
Galatasaray
All eyes will be on Stadion Wankdorf when Young Boys and Galatasaray lock horns in the Champions League playoffs, first leg. Young Boys must be high on confidence following a thrilling Swiss Cup win (10-0) over Printse-Nendaz and they are likely to stick to their attacking style of play. A man to watch in the home team will be Silvere Ganvoula, who has already netted three goals in the new domestic campaign.
Galatasaray, on the other hand, kicked off the new Turkish Super Lig season with back-to-back wins over Hatayspor and Konyaspor and they are seen as favourites to win Wednesday’s qualifier as well. When the two teams faced each other in Uhren Cup back in 2016 they played out a 1-1 draw, but we are tempted to put our money on Mauro Icardi and Co. this time out as Okan Buruk has a number of high-profile players to choose from. Former Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez misses the first leg with injury.
Highlighted Player (Kaan Ayhan):
The Turkish-German defender, who can also play as a defensive midfielder, started playing football in his hometown, Gelsenkirchen, for the Schalke 04 youth academy when he was only four years old, in 1999. He signed his first professional contract in January 2018, but had to wait for his debut for almost two years.
Ayhan substituted Adam Szalai in the 4-1 win against Augsburg, on 5th October 2013. His first goal for Die Königsblauen came on May 2014, in a 2-0 win against SC Freiburg. However, the 23-year-old had to look for regular game time elsewhere, so he joined Eintracht Frankfurt on a loan deal. Despite the fact that there was an option of a permanent signing of the Turkish player, Eintracht decided not to use it, since the price was too demanding.
After 17 years at Schalke, Kaan Ayhan joined Fortuna Dusseldorf on August 2016. Even though he played both for Turkey and Germany junior national teams, the center-back decided to pledge his allegiance to Turkey, recording his debut for the Turkish senior team on August 2016, under the famous Fatih Terim.
Highlighted Team (Young Boys):
Just five years after its foundation Young Boys won their first Swiss Super League trophy (1903). The capital club won no less than 11 domestic trophies in the 20th century, but they have been in Basel’s shadow in the last two decades. Young Boys won their last Swiss Super League title back in 1986, while lifting their last Swiss Cup trophy in 1987.
The Yellow and Blacks welcome their rivals at Stade de Suisse, which acts as a national stadium and it has to be noted that they play their home games on artificial turf. Swiss football legend Stephane Chapuisat played for the club in the past and you should bear in mind that former Yugoslavia coach Vujadin Boskov played for the Stade de Suisse outfit in the past as well.
Young Boys played their first official game on 29 June, 1898 and they shared the spoils with Institute Grunau back then. The Swiss team participated in the 2016/2017 Champions League qualifiers, but they failed to make it to the group stages of the elite competition.
Milan 
Juventus 
Man City
Tottenham
Celta Vigo 
Barcelona 
Southampton
Liverpool
Ipswich
Manchester United
Napoli
AS Roma
