Galatasaray v Arsenal: Arsene Wenger heads to Turkey for respite

Team news, manager quotes and stats ahead of the Champions League Group D match between Galatasaray v Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger will hope for a quieter time in Istanbul than he is discovering in London as Arsenal bid to top Group D. After the 3-2 defeat to Stoke on Saturday in the Premier League, a ight broke out between Arsenal fans who support Wenger and those who want to see him leave according to a report in the Sun on Sunday. One fan tweeted: "Fist fights between Arsenal fans after the game, absolute joke. Disgusting to see our own fans punching each other." Wenger remained in the dugout throughout the game so that Stoke fans, angered by him saying in the past that they were a "rugby team", could not see him. "I didn't want to give them an opportunity to show me their love," he said afterwards. Wenger has been Arsenal manager since 1996 and ended a wait of nine years without a trophy when the Gunners beat Hull City to win the FA Cup in May.



TEAM NEWS Arsenal full-back Mathieu Debuchy has returned to the Arsenal squad. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (hip) also comes back into the starting XI, but several first-team players have remained in London, including Alexis Sanchez (groin), Danny Welbeck (knee), Kieran Gibbs (hip) and Laurent Koscielny (Achilles). Youngsters Stefan O'Connor, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Gedion Zelalem, Glen Kamara, Chuba Akpom and Alex Iwobi have all travelled. France striker Olivier Giroud, fit again following a broken foot, is not eligible in Europe until the knockout stages, while captain Mikel Arteta (calf), defender Nacho Monreal (ankle), Theo Walcott (groin), Mesut Ozil (knee), goalkeeper David Ospina (thigh) and Abou Diaby (calf) continue their rehabilitation, while midfielder Jack Wilshere is not expected back until February after ankle surgery. Provisional Squad: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Chambers, Bellerin, Flamini, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski, Campbell, Sanogo, Martinez, Zelalem, Kamara, Maitland-Niles, O'Connor, Akpom, Iwobi. MANAGER QUOTES Hamza Hamzaoğlu (Galatasary): "Our goal will not just stop our opponent. We want to find the opportunity to test ourselves at this level. We'll try to pressure Arsenal up front and not let them get up the field easily. If Arsenal react well to our pressing, then we'll be strong in the defence and aim for a counter-attack." Arsene Wenger (Arsenal): "Look, the response after a defeat is always very important. We showed a lack of experience defensively (at Stoke), but we could have scored four or five goals in this game and the team response during this game was quite strong."For the rest, you expect that everyone is disappointed after that result, but the Premier League is difficult. We want to be judged at the end of the season, not after every single game where it is normal that emotion is always very high, so let us get our stability back defensively and see at the end of the season where we are."

MATCH STATS Galatasaray and Benfica are the only two Champions League sides already out of every European competition at this point. Arsenal have gone through the (1st) CL group stage for the fifteenth season in a row, the longest such run for an English club. The Gunners could win the group with a victory if Borussia Dortmund lose against Anderlecht, or if the German side draw and Arsenal win by a six-goal margin. Aaron Ramsey has scored four goals in five European appearances against Turkish opposition. Burak Yilmaz has scored two of Galatasaray’s three CL goals this season, and their only goal against Arsenal earlier this campaign at the Emirates Stadium. Yilmaz has scored 10 goals for the Turkish side in the Champions League, just three behind Hakan Sükür (13), Galatasaray’s top scorer in the competition.

Galatasaray have scored 99 goals in the Champions League. Excluding penalty shootouts, Arsenal have never lost a European game against Turkish opposition (W6 D4), keeping a clean sheet in eight of these games. In their last game against Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal kept their first clean sheet in a Champions League game since November 2013, after a run of seven games without one. Santiago Cazorla assisted both Arsenal goals against Borussia Dortmund last week, being the first Gunner to assist more than one goal in a single CL game since Olivier Giroud against Montpellier at the Emirates (2-0, Nov 2012). Galatasaray have not lost any of their last five European home games against English sides (W3 2D).