Everything on Istanbul Basaksehir - Paris Saint-Germain!
The history, what’s at stake and the keys to the game. Discover everything you need to know ahead of kick-off in Matchday 2 of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League between the capital club and the Turkish club, this Wednesday at 18:55 CET at Fatih Terim Stadium.
A little bit of history...
It's the first competitive match between the two sides, and the 11th game for the Rouge et Bleu against a Turkish club (having previously faced Galatasaray, Besiktas, Kayserispor) with the Parisians recording 6 victories, 1 draw and 3 defeats. The capital club have won on their last two trips to Turkey, at Kayserispor (2-1, Septembre 18 2008 in the first leg of the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup) and Galatasaray (1-0, 30/09/2020, last season in the group stage of the Champions League).
Paris are taking part in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth season running since the Rouge et Bleu returned to the competition in 2012. Only 5 European clubs can match that: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester City.
Paris Saint-Germain will on Tuesday play their 117th UEFA Champions League match (63 victories, 22 draws and 31 defeats), and their 228th European match* (119 victories, 52 draws and 57 defeats).
Istanbul Basaksehir will become Paris Saint-Germain's 43rd opponents in the UEFA Champions League, and the 211th club the club have taken on in competitive football since being founded in 1970. The Turkish club follow on from Manchester United, Atalanta and RB Leipzig.
Only two Franco-Turkish players have worn Paris Saint-Germain colours: Mevlut Erding and Météhan Guclu.
What's at stake...
Paris Saint-Germain must get a result in Istanbul after defeat at the Parc des Princes against Manchester United (1-2, on 20/10/2020). The Parisians have performed well away from home and are unbeaten in their last 5 group matches at the UEFA Champions League (Napoli 1-1, Red Star Belgrade 4-1, Galatasaray 1-0, Club Bruges 5-0 and Real Madrid 2-2).
Thomas Tuchel will coach Paris Saint-Germain for the 114th time in a competitive match, moving level with his predecessor, Unai Emery. The German coach has 87 victories to his name with the Rouge et Bleu.
The keys to the match...
Paris Saint-Germain will be able to count on their goalscorer Kylian Mbappé, who netted a double on Saturday evening against Dijon (4-0) in the league. With 96 goals scored for the Rouge et Bleu, the Paris forward is now only two goals back from the top 5 of the Rouge et Bleu (98 goals for Mustapha Dahleb).
* These figures take into account the Supercup but not the Intertoto Cup.
