Real Madrid have practically sealed their qualification for the last-16 round of the Champions League. Galatasaray, on the other hand can not drop any more points if they want to accompany Los Blancos in the next round.
To achieve that objective, the Turkish outfit will have to put an end to their disastrous run in their matches played in Spain. In 13 visits to this country, Galatasaray have only won one match. It was in the 1999-2000 season, when they emphatically beat Mallorca 1-4, although in that occasion it was a UEFA Cup game.
The fact is Galatasaray have never won a single Champions League match against a Spanish team as a visitor. Their two trips to Santiago Bernabeu are a clear proof of their problems when traveling to Spain. In both of them, it was the quarter finals of the tournament, the first one in 2001 and the second one last season. Both ended up with a convincing 3-0 for Los Blancos in the scoreboard.
But Galatasaray’s bad luck in Spain doesn’t end up there. Statistics show that every time the Turkish side have faced a Spanish club in any round of the Champions League, they have been knocked out.
Barcelona (in 1993-94, 1994-95, 2001-02 and 2002-03), Athletic Bilbao (1999-2000) and Real Sociedad (2003-04) also sent the Turkish home. Although in the case of Athletic, they were also knocked out, since Juventus beat them both in the group stage.
