Galatasaray: speed and experience in the path of eagles

Turkish champion in 2017/18, Galatasaray is Benfica's opponent in the Last 32 of the Europa League. The tie takes place on February 14 and 21, 2019, and the eagles play the second leg at Estádio da Luz.

Founded in 1905, the team from Istanbul is always one of the candidates to win the Turkish Super League - they have won it on 21 occasions - and the other domestic competitions. They also won 17 Turkish Cups, 15 Super Cups, a UEFA Cup and a European Super Cup.

This season, however, things haven't been so good. The team sits 5th in the championship, with 26 points; they will play the second leg of the 5th round from the Turkish Cup against Keçiörengücü, this Tuesday, December 18; they lost the Super Cup in the penalty shootout (1-1 at full-time) against Akhisar; in the Champions League, the team finished Group D in the 3rd place, with four points.

With the team playing, alternately, in 4x2x3x1 and in 4x3x3, Fatih Terim, the coach of Galatasaray, aged 65, has been witnessing an inconsistent season, where the team has amassed only nine wins in 24 matches. The team from Istanbul has also registered seven draws, eight defeats, 34 goals scored and 29 conceded.

Nearly two months away from the round of 32 much can change, but the eagles can expect a starting lineup close to the following one, in 4x3x3, if we point to the most used players and in which the speed and the experience stand out: Muslera; Mariano, Maicon, Kabak, Nagatomo; Fernando, Ryan Donk, Ndiaye; Garry Rodrigues, Henry and Derdiyok.

Three matches against Benfica

The Europa League will witness the fourth and fifth official encounters between the two emblems. In the three previous ones, Galatasaray won two and the eagles won one. The first match happened in the UEFA Cup, in 2008/09, in a group stage with five teams and only four rounds. The Turks visited the Estádio da Luz and won by 0-2.

The re-encounter occurred in 2015/16, in the Champions League. In a group with Galatasaray, Atletico Madrid and Astana, Benfica finished as runner-up and went through to the round of 16. In Turkey, the eagles lost by 2-1, but they took their revenge in Lisbon and defeated the opponent, 2-1.

The next duels are scheduled for 5:55 pm on February 14 at the Türk Telecom Arena (first leg) and for 8 pm on February 21 at Estádio da Luz (second leg).

Prolific striker and dangerous flanks

Galatasaray have on the flanks one of their great weapons.  For that, they have two very offensive full-backs (Mariano and Nagatomo) and fast wingers, such as Garry Rodrigues, Henry, Feghouli and Gümüs.

Up front, Fatih Terim has been betting on Derdiyok. The importance of Derdiyok and of the wingers are reflected in the stats. The Swiss is, at this point, the team's top scorer, with nine goals, followed by Henry and Garry Rodrigues, both with four. The Cape Verdean Garry Rodrigues is also one of the most used players, with 1498 minutes, and is joined by Muslera (2100 minutes) and Mariano (1439 minutes).

In the assists ranking, three athletes stand out: Belhanda (3 assists) and Akbaba (2). The top 3 of assist providers is rounded off by Mariano (2).

Text: Marco Rebelo

Pics: Facebook / Galatasaray and Archive / SL Benfica