Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen is set to spearhead the attack for Galatasaray as they travel to face AS Monaco in today’s crucial UEFA Champions League (UCL) fixture. The two sides find themselves mid-table in the UCL league phase standings and will be clashing for the seventh time overall in this European competition.
The match comes at a turbulent time for the hosts. Monaco has experienced a strange few weeks, managing a major victory against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) but surrounding it with a poor run of five matches. This inconsistent form has caused them to fall off the pace in both Ligue 1 and the UCL.
With six points after five matches, Monaco is currently battling hard to stay within the top 24 in the league phase. Optimistic fans, however, will highlight their resilience in Europe, where they remain unbeaten in their last four European outings.
Despite this, the home side’s form in the main draw of the Champions League at the Stade Louis II is a concern. Their 1-0 win against Bodø/Glimt on Matchday 4 remains their sole success across their last eight games in this competition. Historically, they have secured only three wins from their last 14 main-draw UCL home matches, suggesting that things could easily get worse for them today.
This instability provides a window of opportunity for Galatasaray, but the visitors arrive in Monaco in equally wayward form, having lost two of their last five matches across all competitions, including a defeat against Union Saint-Gilloise in their last UCL outing.
Okan Buruk’s side at least managed to steady their domestic ship over the weekend, claiming a morale-boosting 3-2 victory thanks to a dramatic 93rd-minute winner. This win provides a necessary lift as they seek to claim successive away UCL wins for just the second time ever.
The history books, however, suggest that securing an away win will be a tall order for the Turkish club. Galatasaray’s historical performance on the road in the UCL is poor: of the 26 teams to have played 50 or more away UCL fixtures, only Olympiacos (with an 11% win rate) has a lower win percentage in such matches than Galatasaray, who hold a mere 13% away win rate. All eyes will be on Osimhen to break this tough historical pattern.
