With one foot already in the next round, PSV Eindhoven will be looking to finish the job on Wednesday evening when they travel to Galatasaray for the second leg of their Champions League second qualifying round tie.
Having cruised to a 5-1 victory in the first leg at the Philips Stadion last week, the Dutch side are now just 90 minutes away from meeting either Celtic or FC Midtjylland in August's third round qualifier.
Match preview
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Galatasaray's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League group stages for the first time in three years seem all but over following a crushing defeat in the first leg.
They got off to the worst possible start when Eran Zahavi found the net for PSV in the first two minutes, following a mistake from goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. The Israeli forward then scored again in the 35th minute before Emre Kilinc pulled one back for Gala with a header three minutes before the break.
Fatih Terim would have hoped that Kilinc's goal could spur his side on to turn the match around in the second half, but that certainly did not prove to be the case. Zahavi completed his hat-trick in between two strikes from Mario Gotze, to help the Dutch side seal a comfortable victory.
At least four goals are now required for Galatasaray if they are to pull off a miracle on Wednesday, and so an attacking approach is sure to be adopted by Terim.
Having scored six goals in two pre-season friendlies before last week's first leg, beating Dynamo Bucharest and Kasimpasa on home soil, Gala will have confidence in their ability to score goals, but advancing to the next round will more than likely be too tall an order.
Confirmation of their elimination from the Champions League will see them face Scottish outfit St Johnstone in the third qualifying round of the Europa League next month.
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Taking a four-goal advantage into the second leg, PSV Eindhoven head coach Roger Schmidt will be very confident that his side can secure an aggregate win and advance from the second round qualifier.
The Eredivisie outfit are looking to reach the Champions League group stages for the first time in three years, after missing out entirely last year and being eliminated by Basel in the 2019-20 qualifiers.
Even with the absence of right-back Denzel Dumfries and forward Donyell Malen – who have both been strongly linked with moves away from the club this summer – PSV were able to produce an impressive performance in front of 23,500 home supporters at the Philips Stadion.
As well as in last week's first leg, PSV have looked formidable in front of goal during pre-season, scoring 17 goals in their four warm-up matches earlier this month. Schmidt's team swept aside RWD Molenbeek and Delbrucker SC before drawing with Osnabruck and then beating PAOK 1-0 two weeks ago.
PSV controlled the first leg against Galatasaray with 64% possession and reduced the Turks to just one shot on target. Replicating such dominance on Wednesday may prove more challenging, as the hosts will push to score goals, though as long as they avoid an embarrassing collapse in Istanbul, they should have no problems in reaching the next round.
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Team News
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Galatasaray pair DeAndre Yedlin and Emre Akbaba, who missed the first leg, will also be unavailable for Wednesday's game as they remain in isolation following positive coronavirus tests.
Right-back Omar Elabdellaoui, midfielder Taylan Antalyali and winger Jimmy Durmaz also remain out with long-term injuries.
Terim used a 3-5-2 formation in the first leg and he may decide to stick with this attack-minded system, with wing-backs Jesse Sekidika and Omer Bayram to be given license to roam forward and cause problems in the final third.
Veteran striker Radamel Falcao came on as a substitute last week, but the 35-year-old could be handed a start alongside either Ryan Babel or Kerem Akturkoglu.
As for PSV, forward Maximiliano Romero and midfielder Richard Ledezma are Schmidt's only two injury concerns, as both players continue to recover from knee injuries.
Dumfries and Malen are highly unlikely to feature on Wednesday, as their futures at the club remain uncertain – with the latter reportedly on the verge of joining Borussia Dortmund.
However, up to five summer recruits could feature once again in midweek, after goalkeeper Joel Drommel, right-back Phillipp Mwene, centre-back Andre Ramalho and midfielder Marco van Ginkel all started and made their competitive debuts in the first leg, while Davy Propper came on as a substitute.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Drommel; Mwene, Ramalho, Boscagli, Max; Van Ginkel, Sangare; Madueke, Gotze, Vertessen; Zahavi
PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Luyindama, Ozturk, Marcao; Sekidika, Turan, Kara, Kilinc, Bayram; Babel, Falcao
We say: Galatasaray 2-2 PSV Eindhoven (3-7 on aggregate)
Goals are to be expected once again on Wednesday night, though they could be shared out more evenly this time around.
Galatasaray have a very steep mountain to climb if they are to pull off a remarkable comeback, and although we fancy them to find the net in the second leg, PSV Eindhoven should do enough to win comfortably on aggregate.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a PSV Eindhoven win with a probability of 41.2%. A win for Galatasaray had a probability of 34.34% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a PSV Eindhoven win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.13%) and 0-2 (6.31%). The likeliest Galatasaray win was 2-1 (7.94%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.35%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-2 win for PSV Eindhoven in this match.
