Opposition Preview: Galatasaray
By Tom Vinall
On Thursday evening, Tottenham Hotspur will take to the field in the deep bowels of Eastern Europe, as they face Turkish giants Galatasaray in Istanbul, for their fourth game of their Europa League campaign.
So, what can we expect from our hosts ahead of the game?
Galatasaray currently sit top of the Turkish Super Lig table, with 28 points from their opening ten games, dropping just two points - scoring 29 goals and conceding 9 in the process. In the Europa League, they sit fifth in the table, with seven points from their opening three games.
Manager Okan Buruk took over in the summer of 2022, and has won 84 of his 111 games in charge so far, delivering a league title in both of his two seasons in charge. Whilst that may not scream super impressive in isolation - Galatasaray finished 13th with 52 points the season before he took over.
Furthermore, Buruk is a club legend, having won seven league titles, the Europa League, and the UEFA Super Cup with them as a player. His previous job in management was at Istanbul Basaksehir, where he delivered the first Super Lig in the clubs history.
There is a familiar face in central defence in Davinson Sanchez, who joined the club from Spurs in August of last year, after six years in North London. Their most high profile player is Victor Osimhen, who joined the club on loan from Napoli in September, having failed to find a club whilst the transfer window was open for Western and Central European teams.
Other high profile players include Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens, Hakim Ziyech, Michy Batshuayi, and Fernando Muslera - amongst others.
In terms of goals - Osimhen, Icardi and Bans Alper Yilmaz all have four league goals each, whilst Mertens has 3. After that, six players all have two goals, giving the team a nice spread of goals, with plenty of players chipping in.
In the Europa League, Yunus Akgun is their top scorer, with three goals, with the left-winger providing goals and creativity. Fans of the Championship will be familiar with Gabriel Sara from his time at Norwich City. The central midfielder has five assists in the Super Lig so far, as well as another in the Europa League.
This is certainly going to be a tricky game, and it is really handy that Spurs have the cushion of having maximum points, where going without a win here would be far from terminal. Still, the quicker Spurs can get their top eight spot secured, the quicker Ange can use his squad as much as he wants.
It is not just the quality of players like Osimhen that Spurs need to be wary of. The intense, hostile atmosphere at Galatasaray is well documented. As a result, Ange may be reluctant to give young players the sort of game time they have been receiving in Europe so far. One of the players most proof of these sort of atmospheres is Cristian Romero, who will not be available for the game.
To summarise, Spurs can definitely expect their toughest game, by a fair margin, in this game.