Real Madrid will travel to Turkey on Tuesday to face Galatasaray in a must-win tie for Zinedine Zidane men who have not won in the UEFA Champions League so far this season.

Madrid during the Weekend lost to newly-promoted side Mallorca away from home in their first blip in the Spanish La Liga this season but the UEFA Champions League, where they have not won in their first two opening games so far, is the biggest concern for the 13-time winners of Europe’s prestigious competition.

They lost to French Champions, Paris Saint Germain in the first leg by 3-0 and only managed to get a draw against Club Brugge at the Bernabeu, a come back 2-2 draw after an Emmanuel Dennis brace almost condemned the Los Blancos to an embarrassing defeat at home against a less fancied Club Brugge side.

Therefore, a win is non-negotiable as any result other than that would mean a likely early elimination at the group stage.

Unfortunately for the Los Merengues, the Turk Telecom Arena is no easy ground to hunt especially as Galatasaray has also failed to win in the Champions League this season, having lost at home to PSG in the second round of games as well as an opening day draw in Belgium against Club Brugge.

Zidane’s return to the Bernabeu, though still in it’s early days, has not been easy even with the recruitment of Luka Jovic, Eden Hazard (who bought in a deal worth over €100Million), Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy, all of who are yet to impress in the Madrid shirt

Nevertheless, the Spanish side can take inspiration from their last visit to Turkey in 2013 when a Carlo Ancelotti led team beat Galatasaray by 6-1 in a match where Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick,

Real Madrid are backed at 1.68 to win the game, while Galatasaray are pegged at 5.17.

 
 
Written by: Idou Daniel Ademiju