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Man. United vs Başakşehir: UEFA Champions League background, form guide, previous meetings

Manchester United were shocked at İstanbul Başakşehir last time out and will look to reassert themselves on home soil.

Manchester United's  Bruno Fernandes reacts during the reverse fixture in Istanbul
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes reacts during the reverse fixture in Istanbul AFP via Getty Images

Manchester United are still well placed in Group H despite a surprise defeat at İstanbul Başakşehir, who come to England looking to improve on their European away record.

• The Turkish champions claimed their first win in the UEFA Champions League group stage at United's expense in their most recent fixture, all three goals coming in the first half. Demba Ba (13) and Edin Višća (40) gave the home side a cushion and, though Anthony Martial quickly halved United's deficit, İstanbul Başakşehir held on for their first points in the competition.

• İstanbul Başakşehir are therefore level with 2019/20 runners-up Paris Saint-Germain on three points with United and Leipzig – beaten by Paris in last season's semi-finals – both three better off.

Form guide
Manchester United

Highlights: İstanbul Başakşehir 2-1 Man. United

• United were making smooth progress through Group H prior to defeat in Turkey, overcoming last season's runners-up Paris 2-1 away on Matchday 1 before a hat-trick from Marcus Rashford – who had also scored the winner in France – helped secure a 5-0 home win against Leipzig.

• This is United's 23rd UEFA Champions League group stage campaign, more than any other English side and fewer only than Barcelona and Real Madrid (both 25) and Porto and Bayern München (both 24) overall. They have qualified for the knockout phase on 18 occasions, also an English record.

• The three-time European champions' most recent appearance in the competition came in 2018/19, when they lost to Barcelona in the quarter-finals after a spectacular round of 16 comeback against Paris.

Ba reaction on Başakşehir win over United

• Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in 2019/20, losing to eventual champions Sevilla in the last four. They had finished first in their section on 13 points before comfortable aggregate wins against Club Brugge (6-1) and LASK (7-1) in the round of 32 and 16 respectively and a 1-0 extra-time defeat of Copenhagen in the one-off quarter-final. Sevilla proved too strong in the semis, however, United going down 2-1 in Cologne.

• United have finished first in their UEFA Champions League section 15 times, although only once since 2013/14.

• The Manchester club finished third in the Premier League in 2019/20.

• European Cup winners in 1968, United lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy in 1999 and 2008, also reaching the final in 2009 and 2011 – the latter four all under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Highlights: Manchester United 5-0 Leipzig

• Before beating Leipzig on Matchday 2, United had lost their previous two home UEFA Champions League matches; they have still been beaten in four of the last seven (W2 D1), although they won all five games at Old Trafford in the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League, scoring 15 goals and conceding only one.

• The Red Devils have lost two of their eight home matches against Turkish clubs (W5 D1) although they have won the last three, most recently beating Fenerbahçe 4-1 in the group stage of their victorious 2016/17 UEFA Europa League campaign with Paul Pogba scoring twice and Martial and Jesse Lingard once apiece.

• Fenerbahçe's 1-0 win in Manchester in the 1996/97 UEFA Champions League group stage was United's first European defeat at Old Trafford.

İstanbul Başakşehir
• İstanbul Başakşehir lost both of their first two games in the UEFA Champions League group stage 2-0, at Leipzig and at home to Paris.

• İstanbul Başakşehir secured their first UEFA Champions League group stage appearance by last season becoming only the sixth club to lift the Turkish Süper Lig title.

• The Turkish team have twice featured in UEFA Champions League qualifying, losing to Sevilla in the 2017/18 play-offs having beaten Club Brugge in the previous round, and going out to Olympiacos in the 2019/20 play-offs.

• İstanbul Başakşehir have won only one of their six matches in UEFA Champions League qualifying (D2 L3).

Highlights: İstanbul Başakşehir 0-2 Paris

• İstanbul Başakşehir made their European debut in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League and have featured in every season since.

• In 2019/20, after losing both legs against Olympiacos (0-1 h, 0-2 a), İstanbul Başakşehir went on to finish first in their UEFA Europa League section, picking up ten points to come out on top ahead of Roma, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsberg. They then produced a memorable comeback against Sporting CP in the round of 32 (1-3 a, 4-1 h aet), but were beaten in the last 16 by Copenhagen (1-0 h, 0-3 a).

• İstanbul Başakşehir are the sixth Turkish club to appear in the UEFA Champions League group stage, after Galatasaray (16 appearances), Beşiktaş (7), Fenerbahçe (6), Bursaspor and Trabzonspor (both 1).

• The Owls are one of four teams making their group stage debut in 2020/21; Midtjylland (Group D), Krasnodar and Rennes (both E) are the others.

• The Istanbul club have conceded eight goals in losing their last three European away games, and have lost ten of their 16 away matches in Europe overall (W3 D3). A 3-0 win at Austrian club Wolfsberg in last season's UEFA Europa League is their sole away clean sheet; they have conceded 33 goals in those 16 away fixtures.

• İstanbul Başakşehir's only other experience of English opponents came in the third qualifying round of the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League, a goalless draw at home to Burnley preceding a 1-0 extra-time loss in north-west England.

Links and trivia
• Rafael made 170 appearances for United between 2008 and 2015, playing alongside his twin Fábio until 2014. He won three Premier League titles and was an unused substitute in the 2009 UEFA Champions League final defeat by Barcelona.

• İstanbul Başakşehir coach Okan Buruk twice faced England as a player in UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying, a 2-0 away defeat in April 2003 and a goalless draw at home six months later. He missed both legs of Galatasaray's away goals victory against United in the 1993/94 UEFA Champions League second round as he was sidelined with a broken tibia.

Highlights: Fenerbahçe 2-1 Man. United

• Hasan Ali Kaldırım twice faced United with Fenerbahçe in the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League group stage, providing an assist in the Turkish team's 2-1 home win having also played 90 minutes in United's 4-1 victory at Old Trafford. His İstanbul Başakşehir team-mates Martin Škrtel and Mehmet Topal also played in both games.

• Have played in England:
Martin Škrtel (Liverpool 2008–16)
Nacer Chadli (Tottenham 2013–16, West Brom 2016–18)
Demba Ba (West Ham 2010/11, Newcastle 2011–13, Chelsea 2013–14)

• Has played in Turkey:
Alex Telles (Galatasaray 2014–2015)

• Have played together:
David De Gea & Rafael (Manchester United 2011–15)
Paul Pogba & Rafael (Manchester United 2011/12)
Luke Shaw, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard & Rafael (Manchester United 2014/15)
Nemanja Matić & Demba Ba (Chelsea, 2013/14)

• International team-mates:
Nemanja Matić & Danijel Aleksić (Serbia)

Latest news
Manchester United

• Paul Pogba's next appearance in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, will be his 50th.

Edinson Cavani joins Manchester United: watch goals against English clubs

• Edinson Cavani's next goal in UEFA club competition will be his 50th.

• United were 1-0 winners against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford on Saturday, top scorer Bruno Fernandes getting the only goal from the penalty spot to make it six in the Premier League this season.

• United failed to win any of their first four home league matches for the first time since 1972/73, losing three. Crystal Palace were 3-1 winners there on 9 September; then, on 4 October, Tottenham inflicted a 6-1 loss on United, their heaviest home defeat since losing by the same scoreline to Manchester City in October 2011. On 1 November they were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal, a result that ended United's four-match unbeaten run, home and away, in all competitions.

• That defeat by Spurs was the third time United have conceded six goals in a Premier League match; they trailed 4-1 at half-time, the first time they had conceded four goals in the first half of a league match since November 1957.

• The win in Paris was United's tenth consecutive away victory in all competitions, a new club record. The defeat at İstanbul Başakşehir was their first away loss since a 2-0 reverse at Liverpool in the Premier League on 19 January, since when their record had been W15 D3; United returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory at Everton on 7 November.

• Cavani scored his first United goal at Everton.

• United conceded 11 goals in their first three league games, their worst total since 1930/31, when they conceded 13 in a season that ended in relegation.

• Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side were unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches (W9 D5) before losing to Palace in their opening game of the campaign.

• After 3-0 wins away to Luton and Brighton, United will travel to Everton again in the English League Cup quarter-finals on 23 December.

Highlights: Serbia 1-1 Scotland (4-5 pens)

• Scott McTominay converted a penalty in the shoot-out as Scotland won 5-4 on spot kicks in Serbia on 12 November to book their place at UEFA EURO 2020; the game had finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.

• Donny van de Beek scored the Netherlands' goal in a 1-1 friendly draw against Spain on 11 November, his second in successive internationals.

• Daniel James scored one goal and set up another as Wales beat Finland 3-1 on 18 November to clinch promotion to League A of the UEFA Nations League.

• Dean Henderson made his international debut as a half-time substitute in England's 3-0 friendly victory against the Republic of Ireland on 12 November; Harry Maguire, who captained the side for the first time, scored England's opening goal.

• Cavani was sent off in Uruguay's 2-0 home defeat against Brazil in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying on 17 November. He had opened the scoring in the 3-0 win away to Colombia four days earlier.

Rashford's dream United debut

• Marcus Rashford missed England's recent internationals with a shoulder injury but recovered to play in United's game at the weekend. He is the joint leading scorer in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League with four goals.

• Victor Lindelöf was substituted in the second half of Sweden's 4-2 UEFA Nations League defeat in France on 17 November with a back injury; Anthony Martial was an unused substitute for the home side having also suffered a back problem in a 1-0 win in Portugal three days earlier; both played 90 minutes for United on Saturday.

• Pogba suffered an ankle injury in that game against Sweden and sat out United's win at the weekend.

• Luke Shaw picked up a hamstring injury at Everton that is expected to sideline him for a month.

• Eric Bailly was an unused substitute in a 4-1 win at Newcastle on 17 October but has not featured since due to a muscle injury.

• Jesse Lingard's last appearance came on 30 September; he is currently sidelined.

• Rashford was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's birthday honours list on 10 October.

• Former United striker Albert Quixall, who scored 56 goals in 184 appearances for the club between 1958 and 1964, winning the FA Cup in 1963, died aged 87 on 12 November.

İstanbul Başakşehir
• İstanbul Başakşehir's five-match unbeaten league run (W4 D1) was ended on Saturday by a 3-2 loss at city rivals Beşiktaş despite Fredrik Gulbrandsen's two goals in the last nine minutes.

• İstanbul Başakşehir had won their previous four Süper Lig matches, coming from behind to defeat Gençlerbirligi 2-1 on 8 November thanks to goals in the final ten minutes from Gulbrandsen and Mehmet Topal.

• The Turkish champions now have six wins in their last 16 matches in all competitions (D1 L9).

• İstanbul Başakşehir's title defence kicked off with three successive 2-0 defeats, before a goalless draw at home to Göztepe on 3 October got their first point on the board.

• İrfan Can Kahveci's 32nd-minute opener at Trabzonspor thus ended a run of four games without a goal for İstanbul Başakşehir; they had not scored for 402 minutes in the league, going back to the final game of 2019/20.

• Having lost 3-0 at Copenhagen in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg on 5 August, their final fixture of the campaign, İstanbul Başakşehir were five games without a goal in all competitions before getting two on 17 October.

• İstanbul Başakşehir also lost their first two league games in their title-winning campaign last season, although their third defeat did not arrive until their 19th fixture.

• The Turkish champions lost 3-1 to second-tier İstanbulspor in a friendly during the international break. Giuliano scored Başakşehir's only goal from the penalty spot.

• Nacer Chadli marked his club debut after injury with two assists against Gençlerbirliği.

• Deniz Türüç scored Turkey's second goal in a 3-3 friendly draw against Croatia on 11 November.

Highlights: Netherlands 3-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Edin Višća set up Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal in the 3-1 UEFA Nations League defeat against the Netherlands on 15 November.

• Júnior Caiçara tore an achilles tendon on Matchday 1 and is expected to be sidelined for several months after undergoing surgery.

• Enzo Crivelli has not played since being replaced early in the 2-1 win at Konyaspor on 1 November due to a hamstring injury.

• Mahmut Tekdemir, who suffered a groin injury against Antalyaspor on 24 October, returned to action as a late substitute in Turkey's UEFA Nations League game against Russia on 15 November (3-2); he started the 2-0 defeat in Hungary three days later.