Match ends, Galatasaray 0, Real Madrid 1.
Real Madrid collected their first Champions League victory of the season at Galatasaray to ease the pressure on manager Zinedine Zidane.
The La Liga side suffered a shock league defeat against Mallorca at the weekend and had failed to win their opening two group games, with reports in Spain suggesting Frenchman Zidane could be sacked if they lost in Istanbul.
But Toni Kroos' deflected first-half strike following Eden Hazard's cutback was enough to seal the three points.
Big money summer signing Hazard should have made it a more comfortable scoreline for the 13-time European champions but somehow struck the crossbar from six yards out with an open goal.
Turkish champions Galatasaray provided plenty of goalscoring threat but could not find the leveller with on-loan Brighton striker Florian Andone thwarted twice by sharp Thibaut Courtois saves and Steven Nzonzi heading over from close range late on.
Real's win moves them up to second in Group A, five points behind leaders Paris St-Germain who eased past Club Bruges.
Real's summer signings failing to fire
Real were bottom of the group after suffering a heavy 3-0 loss at PSG and being held to a home draw by Club Bruges and there was talk that another defeat could signal the end of Zidane's second spell in charge at the Bernabeu.
The Spanish side are second in the league, one point behind Barcelona, but the major signings have yet to get going, putting Zidane's job under scrutiny.
Having spent almost £300m on a major squad rebuild, Brazil teenager Rodrygo - a £40m acquisition from Santos - was handed his competition debut and £150m forward Hazard was the only other player brought in during the summer to make the starting line-up.
Belgium international Hazard still looks rusty after an injury-hit start to his Real career and this was epitomised by missing a second-half sitter. He also struck two powerful efforts straight at goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Luka Jovic, a £53m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, was given eight minutes as a substitute and is yet to score for Real, while £43m former Porto defender Eder Militao remained on the bench once again.
Striker Karim Benzema flashed a shot narrowly over and saw a rising strike pushed out by Muslera with the busy Uruguayan making a total of 12 saves in the contest.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, are currently sixth in the league, four points adrift of surprise leaders Alanyaspor, and continued their dreadful Champions League run, now winning just two of their last 23 games in the competition.
They should have claimed at least a point from this game but could not find a way past ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois, who dived low to his left to keep out Younes Belhanda's first-time strike.
Gala's rotten run - the stats
- Real Madrid have ended a run of three Champions League games without a win (D1 L2).
- Galatasaray have failed to win any of their last eight Champions League games (D2 L6), failing to score in seven of those eight games.
- Real scored in the first half of a Champions League game for the first time in seven games, since scoring four first-half goals against Viktoria Plzen in November 2018.
- This was Real's first clean sheet in the competition since a 2-0 away win against Roma in November 2018, having conceded 13 goals in their five previous such games.
- Galatasaray faced 27 shots in this game, the most they have faced in a Champions League game since 2003.
- Real's Toni Kroos has scored on his 100th appearance in the Champions League. He is the fifth player to do so in the competition, after Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Line-ups
Galatasaray
Formation 3-4-1-2
- 1Muslera
- 27Luyindama
- 15DonkSubstituted forFeghouliat 45'minutes
- 45do Nascimento TeixeiraBooked at 90mins
- 22Ferreira FilhoBooked at 90mins
- 92NzonziBooked at 68mins
- 6SeriBooked at 46minsSubstituted forMorat 77'minutes
- 55Nagatomo
- 10BelhandaSubstituted forBayramat 67'minutes
- 23Andone
- 11Babel
Substitutes
- 2Ozbayrakli
- 7Büyük
- 8Inan
- 19Bayram
- 34Kocuk
- 89Feghouli
- 97Mor
Real Madrid
Formation 4-3-3
- 13CourtoisBooked at 90mins
- 2Carvajal
- 5Varane
- 4Ramos
- 12Marcelo
- 15ValverdeSubstituted forRodríguezat 79'minutes
- 14Casemiro
- 8KroosBooked at 90mins
- 27RodrygoSubstituted forJovicat 82'minutes
- 9Benzema
- 7E HazardSubstituted forVinícius Júniorat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Areola
- 3Militão
- 16Rodríguez
- 18Jovic
- 22Isco
- 23Mendy
- 25Vinícius Júnior
- Referee:
- Daniele Orsato
- Attendance:
- 48,886
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home56%
- Away44%
- Shots
- Home11
- Away26
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away12
- Corners
- Home8
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home15
- Away4
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Galatasaray 0, Real Madrid 1.
Booking
Mariano (Galatasaray) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Mariano (Galatasaray).
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Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Booking
Marcão (Galatasaray) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Marcão (Galatasaray).
Post update
Luka Jovic (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Booking
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Offside, Galatasaray. Mariano tries a through ball, but Florin Andone is caught offside.
Booking
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Emre Mor (Galatasaray) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Toni Kroos (Real Madrid).
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Attempt saved. Casemiro (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Vinícius Júnior.
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Foul by Steven Nzonzi (Galatasaray).
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Casemiro (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Corner, Galatasaray. Conceded by Sergio Ramos.
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Corner, Galatasaray. Conceded by Sergio Ramos.
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Attempt saved. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Karim Benzema.
Post update
Attempt missed. Steven Nzonzi (Galatasaray) header from very close range is too high. Assisted by Omer Bayram with a cross following a corner.
Comments
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Signs that ZZ is losing patience, with EH getting subbed too
He did manage to pass to the excellent Kroos for the winner though
A win's a win, but this isn't the Real it was
Hard to fill a Ronaldo sized hole in the goal scoring department
Sir, this is a somewhat disrespectful comment & unbecoming of civilised discourse.
I have offered an opinion as to the merits of Hazard as a football player. This is based, not on his nationality, but on his performances on the pitch for many years in England.
Your argument is a logical fallacy. The quality of English players is irrelevant to question of the point being made.
BTW, what does Bianca rhyme with?
He's already said that his priority this season is to win the league.
They're one point behind Barca who have run away with it in recent years but not been able to win the champions league, as Real have.
Zidane sees it as one or the other. He's been backed to make it happen.
Very stupid reporting.
- No mention of Pochettino 'in line' to replace Zidane
- No reference to MU being 'head of the queue' to sign Bale
They have to pay way over the odds for every player they bring in and get very little in return.
Clubs need to change the way they operate regarding buying players as this is unsustainable for everyone.
More resources need to be ploughed into scouting to unearth talent.
It's the only way forward.
I don't get what you find so funny, There are many people (myself included) who believe Hazard is overrated. Good, but overrated. Just look at his stats for Chelsea. Best season he managed 16 goals. Hardly world class is it?