Galatasaray will host Barcelona at Istanbul’s RAMS Park on Tuesday at 10 pm local time (1900 GMT). The Turkish side are seeking to bounce back from a 3-1 defeat to Sporting in their Champions League opener, while Barcelona arrive after a 5-1 victory over Feyenoord.
Galatasaray will be without injured defender Wilfried Singo, while Barcelona’s squad does not include Brazilian forward Raphinha. The match will be refereed by Italian official Marco Guida.
Galatasaray’s head coach Okan Buruk is aiming to secure his 150th victory in charge of the club against Barcelona. Buruk, who took over Galatasaray ahead of the 2022–23 season, has recorded 149 wins, 29 draws and 33 defeats in 211 matches across all competitions as the Istanbul club’s manager.
Excitement has also spilt onto social media. Barcelona’s official account posted “Hey, Istanbul, We’ve arrived.” on October 12, prompting a wave of responses from Galatasaray supporters on X.
Some wrote “We’re waiting” and “They’ll leave the way they came”, while others shared memes and videos welcoming the Spanish side to Istanbul.
Galatasaray has also released a short promotional trailer for the match, adding to the excitement as supporters prepare to welcome one of Europe’s biggest clubs to Istanbul.
Galatasaray have won four of their last six home matches in the Champions League and could record three consecutive home wins in the competition for the first time since 2001.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have scored 80 goals in 27 Champions League matches under coach Hansi Flick, according to Galatasaray’s match preview.
The Turkish champions will look to harness the energy of their home crowd to secure a result against one of Europe’s top clubs as both teams seek to strengthen their positions in the league phase.
The last time the two teams played against each other was in March 2022, once again in RAMS Park with Barcelona emerging victorious 2-1.
