Champions League Champions League
Decimated Bavarians are chasing a special record in Istanbul
As of: 8:13 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Noussair Mazraoui during an FC Bayern training session in Istanbul
Source: picture alliance/dpa/Lennart Preiss
FC Bayern’s game at Galatasaray Istanbul is groundbreaking in the Champions League. Noussair Mazraoui is part of the squad for the first time since his anti-Israel post. For the Munich team it is also about achieving the best value.
We continued straight from the airport. On Monday evening, FC Bayern landed in Istanbul, coach Thomas Tuchel and his team were driven from there with a police escort to the Hotel Raffles, where Tuchel went to the press conference in a ballroom.
In the Champions League group game on Tuesday (6.45 p.m./Amazon Prime Video) at Galatasaray, the Munich team is also about records. The German soccer record champions have been undefeated in 36 group games, most recently winning 15 times in a row in the preliminary round. Both are records – which Bayern want to expand on. Their last defeat in the preliminary round of the premier class was six years ago: a 3-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain, coached at the time by Carlo Ancelotti. The club parted ways with the Italian after the game.
With the 2-1 win at FC Copenhagen, the Munich team recently equaled the record of Italy’s record champions Juventus Turin, who also won seven away games in a row in the preliminary round from 2019 to 2021. With a win in Istanbul, Tuchel’s team would be the sole record holders. In addition, an impressive starting record would be continued: for the fifth year in a row, an opening with three wins would have been successful.
Defense chief de Ligt: “Teamwork can be even better”
But Bayern are missing many players injured, including Dayot Upamecano, Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka. In the last four competitive games, Bayern only kept a clean sheet once.
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“The teamwork can be even better,” said defense chief Matthijs de Ligt on Monday evening in Istanbul. “We are a team that learns something every day. We have a lot of new players, Minjae Kim is also new. We need some time to do better in defense and then be able to keep more clean sheets.” He still feels a bit of pain after his injury, but we have to get through it, “we need everyone now.”
Noussair Mazraoui, who has been criticized for his pro-Palestine post, may play. Tuchel said on Tuesday that they had spoken to the player for a long time. After his injury, he is back in the FC Bayern squad for the first time since his Instagram post. “He was fully into final training. If there is no reaction overnight, he can play,” said the coach. “If he feels safe enough. How long depends on how intense the game gets.”
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Most recently, Sky expert Dietmar “Didi” Hamann criticized Tuchel for his public statements about the Bayern squad, which, according to the coach, was thin in some places. Tuchel did not want to comment in detail on Monday about his squad in international comparison, only saying: “We want to get through the group. The Champions League only works step by step. It’s going to be a super difficult game. We feel strong enough to win the group.”
Coach Thomas Tuchel from FC Bayern Munich takes part in a press conference
Source: pa/dpa/Peter Kneffel
Galatasaray have developed well and are a very dynamic team. It is very emotional and loud in the Turkish champions’ stadium. “It’s a challenge,” said Tuchel. “Galatasaray is the traditional club par excellence, with many fans. It’s a big match. We will need our best level.”
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Munich’s record in Turkey is excellent. Galatasaray have never won a home Champions League game against German opponents. Even when the Turkish record champions hosted FC Bayern over half a century ago, the score was 1-1 at home. The Munich team won the second leg 6-0 at home. FC Bayern won all of their last five European Cup duels with Turkish opponents – with a total of 18:1 goals.
