Stuttgart suffered their first defeat of this Champions League campaign, losing 2-0 to Galatasaray at Istanbul’s Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi. Aleksei Batrakov struck twice early, scoring in the 12th and 15th minutes in front of around 50,000 spectators. Stuttgart remain on seven points.
The visitors had a chance to take the lead before the goals. Jamie Leweling hit the left post, and the ball rebounded off the right post without crossing the line. Stuttgart then fell behind when Jeff Chabot’s attempted clearance reached Batrakov, who finished into the top corner. Three minutes later, Davinson Sánchez’s long pass caught the defence out, allowing Batrakov to run through and score past goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow.
The match began with a minute’s silence for Jesús de Miguel, a Spanish second-division player who had died. The atmosphere grew increasingly intense as Galatasaray’s supporters celebrated their team’s fast start and responded to Stuttgart’s periods of possession with loud jeers. A heated confrontation following a clash between Baris Yilmaz and Chris Führich resulted in yellow cards for Yilmaz and Stuttgart’s Deniz Undav.
Stuttgart created more opportunities after the interval. Führich, Undav and substitute Dzenan Pejcinovic all missed chances, while a goal from Führich was ruled out because Undav had been offside earlier in the move. Galatasaray, coached by Okan Buruk, offered little attacking threat in the second half, but held on for their second win in the league phase. Leroy Sané came on in the 77th minute.
Sources: Süddeutsche Zeitung.