Galatasaray travels with a pretty strong selection to Eindhoven for the first meeting with PSV in the second preliminary round of the Champions League. Trainer Fatih Terim has included Radamel Falcao, Arda Turan, Fernando Muslera and Sofiane Feghouli in the 23-man selection of the Turkish top club. Ryan Babel and former NAC Breda player Ömer Bayram can also prepare for the clash in Eindhoven from Wednesday evening.
Defender DeAndre Yedlin and midfielder Emre Akbaba seem to be missing from Galatasaray due to infection with the corona virus. It was already reported last week that two players had been infected, although no names were released for privacy reasons. Ogulcan Caglayan remains behind in Turkey because of a conflict between the Istanbul club and the Turkish Football Association. Terim has no other injury problems or other setbacks in his roster.
Galatasaray had a somewhat messy preparation for the first meeting with PSV in a European context. They were due to practice against Olympiacos in the run-up to the game in the Philips Stadium this week, but Galatasaray returned to Istanbul without having played a minute. The reason was hassle about a PCR test at Athens airport. On the website, the Turkish club even wrote about ‘violating human rights’. “Despite the fact that our coach Fatih Terim and some of our players behaved constructively and took the necessary measures, they were treated in an extremely inappropriate and even arrogant way,” it read.
Galatasaray’s first leg against PSV starts on Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. A week later, on July 28, the return match is on Turkish soil. The winner of the diptych in the second preliminary round of the Champions League will compete in the third preliminary round with Celtic or FC Midtylland, the draw on Monday revealed. The loser will face the Scottish St. Johnstone in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
Full Galatasaray squad:
Target: Fernando Muslera, Berk Balaban, Fatih Öztürk
Defense: Alpaslan Öztürk, Ömer Bayram, Emre Tasdemir, Kaan Arslan, Christian Luyindama, Marcão Teixeira, Valentine James Ozornwafor,
Midfield: Atalay Babacan, Aytaç Kara,
Attack: Kerem Aktürkoglu, Ryan Babel, Radamel Falcao, Mostafa Mohamed, Baris Alper Yilmaz, Emre Kilinc, Arda Turan, Yunus Akgün, Jesse Sekidika, Ali Yavuz Kol, Sofiane Feghouli.