Manchester United travel to Istanbul to face Turkish giants Galatasaray in a crucial Champions League clash at the Rams Global Stadium in Istanbul on Wednesday night, 29 November 2023. 

Galatasaray claimed an impressive 3-2 win at Old Trafford in early-October and the Turkish giants will be looking to replicate the same performance when they take on Manchester United in the reverse game almost two months later. 

Cimbom are second in the Turkish Super League table, level on 34 points with arch rivals Fenerbahce (due to superior goal difference). 

After back-to-back defeats prior to the international break, Okan Buruk's side returned to winning ways with a 4-0 home victory over Alanyaspor on Saturday. 

Galatasaray are back to the Champions League proper for the first time since 2019. Cimbom joined this season's group stage following a successful qualifying campaign over the summer. 

They were unbeaten to eliminate the likes of Zalgiris, Olimpija Ljubljana and Molde in the qualifiers and have started their group stage campaign with a 2-2 home draw against FC Copenhagen. However, Galatasaray were losing 2-0 until the 86^th minute but still rescued a point thanks to late goals from Sascha Boey and Tete.  

In stark contrast with their domestic form, Galatasray have won only one of their four matches (1-1-2) in the Champions League group stage this term. They sit third in Group A, level on four points with FC Copenhagen in second, and a win on Wednesday night would be a massive result in their bid to reach the Champions League last-16 for the first time in 10 years. 

Okan Buruk has a clean bill of health ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Manchester United. 

With 16 goals and five assists in 21 appearances across all competitions this season, Mauro Icardi should lead the line for Galatasaray. 

Kerem Aktürko?lu will be pushing to return to the starting side for Galatasaray, while veteran Dries Mertens, who scored a brace against Alanyaspor, may have to settle for a place on the bench here. 

Chelsea loanee Hakim Ziyech will also hope to start against Manchester United, though the Moroccan playmaker is still struggling to find his best shape since he joined the Turkish champions in the summer. 

With five goals in 10 Super Lig matches, Wilfried Zaha is one of Galatasaray's standout performers this term. The experienced Ivory Coast forward, who joined Galatasaray this summer, scored against his ex-club in the first leg at Old Trafford and will be eager to score another goal in the Champions League on Wednesday. 

Bidding to avoid a Champions League disaster, Manchester United travel to face Galatasaray at the Rams Park on Wednesday night, 29 November 2023. 

Manchester United suffered another Champions League setback earlier this month, when the Red Devils lost 4-3 at FC Copenhagen. Everything was going great for Erik ten Hag's men - they took a 2-0 lead 28 minutes into the match, with Danish forward Rasmus Hojlund scoring twice against his former club. 

However, Marcus Rashford was shown a straight red card and the Danish champions quickly restored the parity in first-half stoppage time to eventually complete a memorable comeback over the English giants. 

The Red Devils have just earned their most impressive victory of the season - a 3-0 victory at Goodison Park on Sunday - and will need to put in a good string over the next few weeks. 

Erik ten Hag's men need to brace themselves for an eventful period as they'll need to not only rescue their Champions League campaign, but to boost their Premier League credentials in the coming weeks. 

With that said, United simply cannot afford to lose another game because this means their Champions League campaign will be over and they can only hope to continue in the Europa League at best. 

After their midweek trip to the Bosphorus, The Red Devils return to Premier League action with a trip to Newcastle on Saturday night, but first - they need to keep their Champions League hopes alive. 

Having won five of their last six Premier League games, Manchester United are sixth in the table, just four points behind Liverpool and Aston Villa (third and fourth, respectively) inside the top-four. 

Erik ten Hag has named his 22-man traveling squad for Wednesday's crunch UEFA Champions League tussle against Galatasaray.

Danish striker Rasmus Højlund, who scored a brace against Galatasaray at Old Trafford, wasn't fit to feature at Everton last weekend because of a muscle issue he sustained during Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Luton Town prior to the international break.

Still looking for his first Premier League goal (failing to score in nine games), Hojlund has been doing much better in the Champions League and he was included in United's group for Istanbul. The 20-year-old Denmark international had scored five goals in four Champions League appearances and he will be eager to add to his tally. 

Erik ten Hag also included academy graduates Dan Gore and Joe Hugill in his squad. 

Elsewhere, Kobbie Mainoo has overcome an ankle injury he sustained during Manchester United's pre-season tour and the talented teenager was handed his first Premier League start against Everton on Sunday. The Manchester United supporters will be happy to see him in the starting XI following his impressive performance at Goodison Park.

England left-back Luke Shaw also recovered from a long-term muscle injury to make his first appearance since August and Erik ten Hag could once again start him against Galatasaray. 

In addition to Marcus Rashford's suspension, Jadon Sancho is out for disciplinary reasons, while the likes of Lisandro Martínez, Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Amad Diallo and Mason Mount are all injured for Manchester United. 

Anthony Martial scored his first league goal of the season at Everton and the Frenchman should start up front if Hojlund is not fully fit to play from the outset. 

The Red Devils are on the eve of a must-win encounter at Rams Park, knowing that anything but three points could end their hopes of progressing to the Champions League last-16.

Despite his poor form this season, Marcus Rashford's absence would be a huge blow to Erik ten Hag's game plan. The England international has the ability to cause trouble even when he doesn't score goals. 

Having won just one of their last 15 matches in the Champions League group stage - which was the first-leg win at Old Trafford - Galatasaray will be looking to claim a third consecutive victory over Manchester United. They have also beat the Red Devils 1-0 at home in the 2012-13 group stage (November 2012). 

All in all, Galatasray have lost only one of their 10 home games this season (a 3-1 Champions League loss to Bayern Munich last month). 

The Red Devils have won four consecutive Premier League away games, keeping a clean sheet in three of them, but they have won just one of their last eight away games in the Champions League, including a 2-1 defeat at Istanbul Basaksehir three years ago (November 2020).