Bosnia And Herzegovina
Czech Republic
Hungary
Indonesia
South Africa
South Korea
United Arab Emirates

Preview: NK Olimpija Ljubljana vs. Galatasaray - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 6 August 2023, 23:23
In the UEFA Champions League third round of qualifying, Slovenian representatives NK Olimpija Ljubljana will welcome Galatasaray to Stadion Stozice for a first-leg encounter on Tuesday evening.

The hosts earned their place in this round by recording a 3-2 aggregate win over Ludogrets in round two of qualifying, while the visitors managed to overcome Zalgiris by the same aggregate scoreline.

Match preview

Olimpija lifted the Prva Liga title last season for the first time since the 2017-18 season with 73 points, which was six ahead of Celje in second place, and 11 clear of the outgoing league champions Maribor.

Joao Henriques's side were dominant in their domestic league, and despite losing their final three fixtures, they had already secured the title several weeks before the end of the season.

They beat Valmeira in the first round of qualifying and went into the last round as the underdogs but held on to a crucial 1-1 draw at Stadium Ludogorets Arena before managing a dramatic 2-1 win at this venue last week thanks to a brace from Timi Max Elsnik.

With their domestic league already underway, Olimpija lost their opening match against Koper 2-1 but bounced back with an impressive 5-0 win over Rogaska last weekend, leaving them in sixth place in the very early stages of the season.

It is worth noting that Olimpija won both their home matches against Valmeira and Ludogorets in this competition in the previous rounds and are unbeaten in their last three matches at Stadion Stozice.

Meanwhile, Turkish League champions Galatasaray will be looking to return to the Champions League main draw for the first time since the 2019-20 season when they reached the group stages fairly comfortably.

The visitors claimed their 21st Super Lig title last season with 88 points, ending the season eight points clear of Fenerbahce and on a six-match winning streak, scoring 15 goals and conceding just one in that time.

Over the course of the 36-match season, Galatasaray conceded just four defeats while recording 28 wins and four draws, and they were the best-performing away side of any team in the league.

Okan Buruk's side have only played in one previous qualifying round, which was against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets, and they were pushed all the way to the end but managed to secure a 1-0 win in the second leg after a hard-fought 2-2 draw in the first leg.

While their preseason form was nothing to write home about, Galatasaray will be the strong favourites coming into this match and will be fairly confident of securing a first-leg lead to take back to NEF Stadyumu next week.

NK Olimpija Ljubljana Champions League form:

W

W

D

W

NK Olimpija Ljubljana form (all competitions):

W

W

L

D

W

W

Galatasaray Champions League form:

D

W

Galatasaray form (all competitions):

L

W

D

L

D

W

Team News

Saar Fadida scored a hat-trick against Rogaska in the hosts last league match, and he will be hoping for a recall to the starting 11 after being left on the bench against Ludogorets.

Elsnik's goals in both legs of the last round almost guarantee that he will keep his place in the midfield alongside Agustin Doffo and Ivan Posavec.

While Galatasaray have brought in several new faces over the summer transfer window, there are several players that are ineligible to play just yet.

Among those that are yet to be registered are Kerem Demirbay, Alpaslan Ozturk, Ogulcan Caglayan and Christian Luyindama, while Nicolo Zaniolo could miss out through injury.

NK Olimpija Ljubljana possible starting lineup:

Vidovsek; Silva, Ratnik, Muhamedbegovic, Sualehe; Posavec, Doffo, Elsnik; Seslar, Nukic, Pedro

Galatasaray possible starting lineup:

Muslera; Boey, Nelsson, Bardakci, Angelino; Kutlu, Oliveira, Akturkoglu, Mertens, Akgun; Yilmaz

We say: NK Olimpija Ljubljana 1-1 Galatasaray

Based on their recent form and performances in the previous round, there is very little to choose between these sides despite Galatasaray being the out-and-out favourites to win the match. We fancy the Turkish side to qualify for the playoffs but feel that they will need to secure that win back at home with this one ending level.

Previews by email

Top News

16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid will be bidding to book their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League when they welcome Manchester City to Bernabeu for the second leg of their playoff clash on Wednesday night. 16 February 2025 talksport.com The Premier League has two mouthwatering games on Sunday and talkSPORT has all the latest. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Taking a slender lead to San Siro, Feyenoord endeavour to finish the job on AC Milan when they reconvene for Tuesday's Champions League playoff second leg. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez has confirmed that he has undergone surgery on the severe knee injury that he suffered against Crystal Palace earlier this month. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Marcus Rashford is reportedly still hopeful of completing a 'dream switch' to Barcelona during this summer's transfer window. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United are reportedly prepared to make a €150m (£125m) move for Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez during this summer's transfer window. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk All transfer business is done and dusted for this season, but that doesn't stop clubs from preparing ahead for next season. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Hatayspor vs. Alanyaspor (Sunday, 10.30am) Round 24 of the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig campaign pits relegation candidates Hatayspor against mid-table Alanyaspor at the Mersin Stadyumu on Sunday evening. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Nijmegen vs. Almere City (Sunday, 11.15am) Aiming to make it back-to-back wins and move closer to escaping the foot of the Eredivisie table, Almere City will travel to the Goffertstadion on Sunday to take on NEC. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Espanyol vs. Athletic Bilbao (Sunday, 1.00pm) Athletic Bilbao will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run in La Liga to 15 matches when they head to Espanyol on Sunday. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Fiorentina vs. Como (Sunday, 11.30am) Top-four contenders Fiorentina will aim to boost their hopes of European qualification on Sunday, as they welcome Serie A strugglers Como to Stadio Franchi. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Werder Bremen vs. Hoffenheim (Sunday, 2.30pm) European hopefuls Werder Bremen will welcome relegation-threatened Hoffenheim to Weserstadion on Sunday in their 22nd Bundesliga game of the season. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Montpellier vs. Lyon (Sunday, 2.00pm) Looking to give their survival hopes a major boost, Montpellier HSC will welcome Champions League-chasing Lyon to Stade de la Mosson-Mondial 98 on Sunday afternoon for a Ligue 1 battle. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Hearts vs. Rangers (Sunday, 12.00pm) Hearts host Rangers in the Scottish Premiership this weekend, hoping to boost their chances of qualifying for European football next season. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool vs. Wolves (Sunday, 2.00pm) With or without Arne Slot on the touchline, Liverpool's pursuit of Premier League stardom when Wolverhampton Wanderers stop over at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool could face a difficult test at Anfield on Sunday against Wolverhampton Wanderers and will have to show improvements from last time out, Reds expert David Lynch has argued. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United attacker Amad Diallo took to Instagram and confirmed he is set to be sidelined for some time after suffering an injury in training. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has hinted that he would be happy to stay at Anfield despite interest from Paris Saint-Germain. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool have reportedly accepted that goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will leave in the summer transfer window, and are said to be willing to do business for a fee of £30-40m. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk The primary job of a goalkeeper is to keep the ball out of the back of their own net, but there are times, especially in the modern era, where we see some shot-stoppers contributing to goals at the right end of the pitch. 15 February 2025 talksport.com Arsenal might be struggling for strikers but one former wonderkid is loving life away from north London. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal should not give any thought to signing an "out of shape" free agent to solve their attacking shortage, Gunners expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole. 15 February 2025 talksport.com Xabi Alonso continues to haunt his former employers Bayern Munich. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Despite being by far the better side, Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich at BayArena on Saturday in an anticlimactic six pointer in the Bundesliga title race. 15 February 2025 talksport.com Aaron Lennon believes Tottenham's clash against Manchester United could be a preview of the Europa League final. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Everton won their fourth Premier League match in five as they beat hosts Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Saturday evening. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick could make two changes to his XI for Monday's La Liga contest with Rayo Vallecano. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona will welcome Rayo Vallecano to Estadi Olímpic Lluis Companys on Monday night knowing that a victory would see them rise above Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to the top of the La Liga table. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Galatasaray will travel to face Caykur Rizespor at the Caykur Didi Stadium, aiming to maintain their lead at the top of the Turkish Super Lig table. 15 February 2025 talksport.com It takes a lot to shock Troy Deeney but Bournemouth star Justin Kluivert nearly rendered him speechless.
there is nothing here yet