Galatasaray will host Portugal's Benfica in football's Champions League on Wednesday evening.
The Istanbul club lost to Spain's Atletico Madrid and drew against Kazakhstan's Astana in their first two Group C matches. Benfica lead the group with 6 points following wins against Astana and Atletico.
Galatasaray coach Hamza Hamzaoglu said he believed his side were favorites to win the fixture.
"I believe we can mirror our positive run in the Super League, in the UEFA Champions League," he told UEFA.com. "Many think that finishing third in the group and transferring to the UEFA Europa League is a more realistic aim for Galatasaray but for me we have to continue in the Champions League."
Galatasaray recorded a 4-1 win at the weekend and currently sit second in the Turkish league.
Benfica's Rui Vitoria told a pre-match news conference at the Turk Telekom Arena his side would not be intimidated by the crowd in Istanbul. "We are used to playing in these atmospheres," he said. "I don't think that we will be in trouble. The atmosphere will be great and exciting but I don't think it will affect us."
Galatasaray have midfielder Hamit Altintop out with a knee injury while Benfica's Nuno Santos and Nelson Semedo are also likely to miss the game through injuries.
Kick-off at 9.45 p.m. local time (1845 GMT).
- Group C standings:
Clubs
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
+/-
|
Pts
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Benfica
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
Atletico Madrid
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
Galatasaray
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
-2
|
1
|
Astana
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
-2
|
1
|
- Champions League fixtures:
Tuesday:
Group E:
BATE (Belarus) v Barcelona (Spain)
Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) v Roma (Italy)
Group F:
Arsenal (England) v Bayern Munich (Germany)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) v Olympiacos (Greece)
Group G:
Porto (Portugal) v Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) v Chelsea (England)
Group H:
Zenit (Russia) v Olympique Lyon (France)
Valencia (Spain) v Gent (Belgium)
Wednesday:
Group A:
Malmo (Sweden) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Paris Saint-Germain (France) v Real Madrid (Spain)
Group B:
CSKA Moscow (Russia) v Manchester United (England)
Wolfsburg (Germany) v PSV (Netherlands)
Group C:
Atletico Madrid (Spain) v Astana (Kazakhstan)
Galatasaray (Turkey) v Benfica (Portugal)
Group D:
Juventus (Italy) v Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany)
Manchester City (England) v Sevilla (Spain)
Matches kick-off at 8.45 p.m. CET (1845 GMT).
