On Wednesday, Ryan Babel and Florin Andone will be out on injury but Galatasaray must still find way to overcome Paris Saint Germaine if they are to have any hope of getting something tangible out of this season’s Champions League campaign.
Unfortunately for the Turkish side, Wednesday’s last round group stage clash against the Parisians will be taking place in France which automatically gives the host a lot of advantage not minding the fact that they are the far superior side.
In order for Sofiane Feghouli’s men to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League, they must beat Thomas Tuchel’s men on their own turf.
Club Brugge the other team fighting to make sure Galatasaray’s Europa dream do not come to pass, faces Madrid and will need to beat Los Blancos if they are to be totally sure of clinging to their third-place spot.
The Europa League spot is a way to compensate teams who made it to the big league but were just unable to compete at the higher end of the spectrum of quality. By incentivizing the third-place finish UEFA found a way to make teams to always have something to play off till the last round of group stage matches.
It will take more than a miracle for a Gala side with both Babel and Andone to take all three points off PSG. The French champions may have qualified for the knockout stages but the group’s bragging right with Real Madrid is up for grabs.
They took 4 points off the Spanish side and will be looking to maintain the distance between the two sides by beating their Turkish visitors at home.
Plus, given the resources available at the club, losing to such a side no matter the number of players that are injured under Thomas Tuchel will not be taken lightly by the powers that be.