Champions League Matchday 7: Galatasaray vs Atlético de Madrid facts

Galatasaray will attempt to get their UEFA Champions League campaign back on track against an Atlético de Madrid team they have never beaten in six previous attempts.

The Turkish side have lost their last two games and were 18th in the league phase standings ahead of Matchday 7 on nine points (W3 L3) with Atleti eighth, three points better off on 12 (W4 L2) after three successive victories.

Last match

Atleti are unbeaten in the six meetings between the sides (W4 D2), winning 2-0 both away and at home in the 2015/16 group stage with Antoine Griezmann scoring all four goals.

That success in Istanbul made it three wins from three against Gala in Türkiye for Atleti.

Galatasaray have won only one of their last 21 matches against Spanish teams (D5 L15), most recently going down 1-2 at home – and on aggregate – to Barcelona in the 2021/22 Europa League round of 16 second leg.

That made it four successive losses, and 11 goals conceded, at home to Spanish visitors. A 3-2 victory against Real Madrid in the 2012/13 Champions League quarter-final second leg – a tie Galatasaray lost 3-5 on aggregate – is their only win in their last ten home games against Spanish visitors (D1 L8).

Atleti have lost only one of their 14 matches against Turkish teams (W10 D3), winning the last five, although this is their first fixture since those 2015 games against Galatasaray.

The Spanish side have won six of their seven away games against Turkish clubs, including the last four.

Galatasaray

This is Galatasaray's 19th participation in the Champions League proper – more than every other Turkish club combined – but only a second in six seasons. That last campaign, in 2023/24, ended in the group stage – as had Gala's previous four forays into the competition.

The Istanbul club lost 2-4 on aggregate to Young Boys in last season's qualifying play-offs, going on to finish 14th in the league phase of the Europa League before being eliminated by AZ Alkmaar in the knockout phase play-offs.

Atlético de Madrid 

Atlético are making their 16th appearance in the Champions League proper and a 13th in succession. They have featured every season since 2013/14.

Runners-up in 2014 and 2016, both against Real Madrid, Diego Simeone's side lost to their neighbours on penalties in last season's round of 16 (1-2 a, 1-0 h, 2-4 pens). They had finished fifth in the league phase (W6 L2).

Key stats

Galatasaray midfielder Lucas Torreira made 26 appearances for Atleti while on loan from Arsenal in 2020/21.

Defeat at Monaco on Matchday 6 was Galatasaray's second successive 0-1 league phase loss.

Victor Osimhen had found the net in eight consecutive European games, 12 goals in total, before drawing a blank at Monaco.

A 3-2 victory at PSV Eindhoven on Matchday 6 made it ten wins in Atleti's last 13 Champions League matches (L3).

Julián Alvarez has ten goals in his last 11 Champions League appearances.

Jan Oblak has made 99 Champions League appearances; he would become the first player from Slovenia to reach a century and only the second for Atleti after Koke (108).