Preview: Juventus vs Galatasaray - prediction, team news, lineups

Requiring a minor miracle to gain Champions League redemption, fallen giants Juventus will welcome Galatasaray to Turin on Wednesday evening.

Last week, the Italian side were thumped 5-2 in Istanbul, so Gala are huge favourites to win their playoff tie and stride straight through to the last 16.

Match preview

Given false hope when Teun Koopmeiners scored twice to overturn Galatasaray's early opener, Juventus fans then witnessed one of their club's worst European nights unfold in the Turkish capital last Tuesday.

Juve crumbled under intense pressure during a one-sided second half, as substitute Juan Cabal capped a calamitous cameo by being sent off, and Napoli loanee Noa Lang helped himself to two goals as Gala surged into a big lead.

That was just the second time that the Bianconeri have conceded five or more goals in any UEFA competition, and the first since they shipped seven against Wiener Sport-Club in the 1958-59 European Cup.

So, they will need an historic performance to turn the tie around: on 49 occasions when a team has lost the first leg of a Champions League contest by at least three goals, only four have reached the next round.

Two-time winners of the continent's top trophy, Juventus are now a club in crisis, having previously lost another classic Derby d’Italia to old foes Inter Milan and subsequently crumbled against Como.

Juve's long unbeaten home record in Serie A - which dated back to last season - was finally ended by their fellow top-four contenders on Saturday, with a tame 2-0 defeat in Turin.

A modest tally of 46 points - currently four behind the Champions League places - is their worst at this stage of any campaign since 2011, so Sunday's clash with fourth-placed Roma has a lot riding on it for both clubs.

First, Luciano Spalletti's team must try to salvage some pride by beating Galatasaray for the first time in 22 years.

To date, Gala have lost just one of seven meetings with Juventus, after last week's win equalled their biggest margin of victory in the Champions League.

That emphatic triumph - in the club's 200th European Cup match - has set them up to sail through their first knockout tie since 2014.

The Turkish giants may already be dreaming of a last-16 clash with either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur, having previously progressed from all 11 two-legged UEFA ties when winning the opener by three or more goals.

Okan Buruk's team are also on track to defend their Super Lig crown, as they gun for a fourth straight domestic title, but they took their eye off the ball last weekend.

Four days on from humbling Juventus, they suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Konyaspor, who had previously gone 12 games without a league win.

Though blessed with a prolific front line featuring Victor Osimhen, Mauro Icardi and several others, that away defeat highlights a slight chink in their armour, which may give Juve the slightest sliver of hope.

Dating back a few decades, Galatasaray have lost 71% of their Champions League away games; recently, they have lost nine and won just one of the last 13.

Juventus Champions League form:

D W W W D L

Juventus form (all competitions):

W L D L L L

Galatasaray Champions League form:

L W W W L W

Galatasaray form (all competitions):

W W W W W L

Team News

After limping out of last week's defeat with a thigh injury - and subsequently missing the loss to Como - Juve’s defensive rock Bremer could return to action on Wednesday.

Pierre Kalulu is also available after serving a controversial Serie A ban, but Spalletti will be without three full-backs, as Emil Holm is injured while Cabal and Andrea Cambiaso are both suspended.

First-choice striker Jonathan David missed the trip to Turkey and was only fit enough for a cameo last weekend, so it remains to be seen whether he joins Turkish star Kenan Yildiz in the hosts' attack.

Both long-term absentees, his fellow forwards Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik are still ruled out.

Meanwhile, Galatasaray's ex-Inter man Icardi started in Konya but is set to make way for former Napoli striker Osimhen, who needs two more goals to equal the club record for a single Champions League campaign.

Midfielder Mario Lemina is back from a ban and will return to his old club, potentially partnering Gabriel Sara.

Last week, the latter became just the second player to both score and assist in a knockout match for Gala, after Wesley Sneijder did so against Real Madrid in 2013; Sara also created seven chances in the first leg.

Juventus possible starting lineup:

Perin; Gatti, Bremer, Kelly; McKennie, Locatelli, Thuram, Kostic; Conceicao, Yildiz; David

Galatasaray possible starting lineup:

Cakir; Sallai, Bardakci, Sanchez, Jakobs; Torreira, Lemina; Yilmaz, Sara, Lang; Osimhen