Lions Look For Historic Win And 3 CL Points At Arsenal

Galatasaray heads to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday in hopes of besting the team that narrowly knocked its fellow İstanbulites out of the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal overcame Beşiktaş with a 1-0 aggregate score to demote the Black Eagles to the Europa League, and now Galatasaray is trying to avoid elimination from the group stage of Europe's top football competition.

Drawn in Group D with Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray tied its first match against Belgian champion Anderlecht two weeks ago. Arsene Wenger's Arsenal is now at the bottom of the heap after losing 2-0 to Dortmund -- which faces Anderlecht away on Wednesday -- in its first game.

So the London-based team is desperate for points going into the match. “Now we are fully aware that we are almost obliged to win the next Champions League game because there may be problematic times for us if we don't so we'd better win,” Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla said in a statement on Arsenal's website. Galatasaray will be channeling its spirits from the 1999-2000 edition of the UEFA Cup -- as the Europa League was then known -- the first and only time it has met Arsenal on the pitch. It was the final, and Galatasaray held the English Premier League powerhouse to a scoreless draw. The Lions of Galatasaray went on to win 4-1 on penalties to claim their first and only UEFA title.

Hard won

But defeating Arsenal in London is a much bigger task. “We have to be mentally ready for the challenge and aggressive on the pitch,” Galatasaray coach Cesare Prandelli told the media in Turkey. “We need to play our own game, always and regardless of where we play, with our heads held high,” he added.

Arsenal has advanced beyond the group stage in the past 17 editions of the competition. “It's true that Arsenal has a great record when it comes to the group stage. However, all that history doesn't count now,” Cazorla said.

The club also has a good record against Turkish clubs, having defeated Fenerbahçe easily last year, 3-0 away and 2-0 at home in last season's playoffs. They also achieved an aggregate score of 5-2 against Fenerbahçe in the 2008-2009 Champions League.

Galatasaray does not have a good record against Arsenal's countrymen. The club has lost seven, drawn eight and won only three of their matches against English clubs. The Lions have never won on an English pitch, but they have drawn six of nine encounters.

So, if the Lions manage to overcome Arsenal on Wednesday, they will have already made history by winning their first competitive match on English soil. In addition, having four points would put them in good standing to squeeze by into the knockout rounds.

Second half scores

Galatasaray likes to score dramatic late goals. Two of the club's goals this season were scored in the 90th minute.

Wenger's squad will be without Mathieu Debuchy and Theo Walcott, who are both out injured, while Prandelli's side is relatively healthy. However, the Lions lack the attacking power of Alexis Sanchez.

Galatasaray's key players will be Netherlands playmaker Wesley Sneijder, Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, and perhaps Cameroon defender Aurelien Chedjou, who scored over the weekend and set Burak Yılmaz up for his last-minute equalizer against Anderlecht. “There is always room for surprises and we are among the best teams in Turkey and Europe,” Chedjou said, adding, “We are going there to do our best until the very end.”

The match kicks off at 9:45 p.m. Turkish time and the referee will be Italy's Gianluca Rocchi.

Rachel Mollman (Cihan/Today's Zaman)