On Thursday night, Galatasaray and Randers go head at the Turk Telekom Stadyumu, in the second leg of the Europa League play-off round. It’s all to play for in the Turkish capital after the first leg finished all square.
Galatasaray head into this clash on the back of a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions. The unbeaten run started after the Turkish side exited the Champions League in the second qualifying round following a 7-2 aggregate hammering at the hands of Dutch team PSV Eindhoven.
🦁 Aslanlarımız karşılaşma öncesinde ısınıyor. 📸 #GSvHTY pic.twitter.com/YDyfUUyjeZ— Galatasaray SK (@GalatasaraySK) August 23, 2021
🦁 Aslanlarımız karşılaşma öncesinde ısınıyor. 📸 #GSvHTY pic.twitter.com/YDyfUUyjeZ
The home team eliminated Scottish outfit, St. Johnstone, in the last round of the competition, recording a 4-3 aggregate win. The score in the first leg was not a terrible one, as Galatasaray will be confident of progressing on home soil.
They have been difficult to beat in the Europa League of late, as Fatih Terim’s team has lost just once in their last seven outings in the competition.
The home side has also lost just once in their previous seven home matches in European football’s secondary competition.
Randers will not be too disappointed by the first leg result, as they are still well in the tie. Similarly, to the home team, the visitors have been tough to beat, as they are currently seven games unbeaten this season.
The first leg draw was followed by another 1-1 draw in the Danish Superliga against AaB.
The Danish side has only featured sporadically in European football in recent seasons. In fact, they last featured in the Europa League back in 2015.
They have a mixed recent away record in the competition, but one win from their previous four outings on their travels is not a great one.
Forebet predicts that this encounter will produce the same scoreline as the first leg, which would mean the tie would be decided in extra-time or a penalty shootout.