Match ends, Galatasaray 0, Real Madrid 1.
Galatasaray 0-1 Real Madrid: Toni Kroos goal eases pressure on Zinedine Zidane
- From the section Champions League
Real Madrid collected their first Champions League victory of the season at Galatasaray to ease the pressure on manager Zinedine Zidane.
The La Liga side suffered a shock league defeat against Mallorca at the weekend and had failed to win their opening two group games, with reports in Spain suggesting Frenchman Zidane could be sacked if they lost in Istanbul.
But Toni Kroos' deflected first-half strike following Eden Hazard's cutback was enough to seal the three points.
Big money summer signing Hazard should have made it a more comfortable scoreline for the 13-time European champions but somehow struck the crossbar from six yards out with an open goal.
Turkish champions Galatasaray provided plenty of goalscoring threat but could not find the leveller with on-loan Brighton striker Florian Andone thwarted twice by sharp Thibaut Courtois saves and Steven Nzonzi heading over from close range late on.
Real's win moves them up to second in Group A, five points behind leaders Paris St-Germain who eased past Club Bruges.
Real's summer signings failing to fire
Real were bottom of the group after suffering a heavy 3-0 loss at PSG and being held to a home draw by Club Bruges and there was talk that another defeat could signal the end of Zidane's second spell in charge at the Bernabeu.
The Spanish side are second in the league, one point behind Barcelona, but the major signings have yet to get going, putting Zidane's job under scrutiny.
Having spent almost £300m on a major squad rebuild, Brazil teenager Rodrygo - a £40m acquisition from Santos - was handed his competition debut and £150m forward Hazard was the only other player brought in during the summer to make the starting line-up.
Belgium international Hazard still looks rusty after an injury-hit start to his Real career and this was epitomised by missing a second-half sitter. He also struck two powerful efforts straight at goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Luka Jovic, a £53m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, was given eight minutes as a substitute and is yet to score for Real, while £43m former Porto defender Eder Militao remained on the bench once again.
Striker Karim Benzema flashed a shot narrowly over and saw a rising strike pushed out by Muslera with the busy Uruguayan making a total of 12 saves in the contest.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, are currently sixth in the league, four points adrift of surprise leaders Alanyaspor, and continued their dreadful Champions League run, now winning just two of their last 23 games in the competition.
They should have claimed at least a point from this game but could not find a way past ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois, who dived low to his left to keep out Younes Belhanda's first-time strike.
Gala's rotten run - the stats
- Real Madrid have ended a run of three Champions League games without a win (D1 L2).
- Galatasaray have failed to win any of their last eight Champions League games (D2 L6), failing to score in seven of those eight games.
- Real scored in the first half of a Champions League game for the first time in seven games, since scoring four first-half goals against Viktoria Plzen in November 2018.
- This was Real's first clean sheet in the competition since a 2-0 away win against Roma in November 2018, having conceded 13 goals in their five previous such games.
- Galatasaray faced 27 shots in this game, the most they have faced in a Champions League game since 2003.
- Real's Toni Kroos has scored on his 100th appearance in the Champions League. He is the fifth player to do so in the competition, after Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Line-ups
Galatasaray
- 1Muslera
- 27Luyindama
- 15DonkSubstituted forFeghouliat 45'minutes
- 45do Nascimento TeixeiraBooked at 90mins
- 22Ferreira FilhoBooked at 90mins
- 92NzonziBooked at 68mins
- 6SeriBooked at 46minsSubstituted forMorat 77'minutes
- 55Nagatomo
- 10BelhandaSubstituted forBayramat 67'minutes
- 23Andone
- 11Babel
Substitutes
- 2Ozbayrakli
- 7Büyük
- 8Inan
- 19Bayram
- 34Kocuk
- 89Feghouli
- 97Mor
Real Madrid
- 13CourtoisBooked at 90mins
- 2Carvajal
- 5Varane
- 4Ramos
- 12Marcelo
- 15ValverdeSubstituted forRodríguezat 79'minutes
- 14Casemiro
- 8KroosBooked at 90mins
- 27RodrygoSubstituted forJovicat 82'minutes
- 9Benzema
- 7E HazardSubstituted forVinícius Júniorat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Areola
- 3Militão
- 16Rodríguez
- 18Jovic
- 22Isco
- 23Mendy
- 25Vinícius Júnior
- Referee:
- Daniele Orsato
- Attendance:
- 48,886
Match Stats
Home TeamGalatasarayAway TeamReal Madrid
- Possession
- Home56%
- Away44%
- Shots
- Home11
- Away26
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away12
- Corners
- Home8
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home15
- Away4
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Galatasaray 0, Real Madrid 1.
Booking
Mariano (Galatasaray) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Mariano (Galatasaray).
Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Booking
Marcão (Galatasaray) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Marcão (Galatasaray).
Luka Jovic (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Booking
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card.
Offside, Galatasaray. Mariano tries a through ball, but Florin Andone is caught offside.
Booking
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Emre Mor (Galatasaray) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Toni Kroos (Real Madrid).
Attempt saved. Casemiro (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Vinícius Júnior.
Foul by Steven Nzonzi (Galatasaray).
Casemiro (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Galatasaray. Conceded by Sergio Ramos.
Corner, Galatasaray. Conceded by Sergio Ramos.
Attempt saved. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Karim Benzema.
Attempt missed. Steven Nzonzi (Galatasaray) header from very close range is too high. Assisted by Omer Bayram with a cross following a corner.
Corner, Galatasaray. Conceded by Marcelo.
Attempt blocked. Florin Andone (Galatasaray) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Emre Mor.
Substitution
Substitution, Real Madrid. Luka Jovic replaces Rodrygo.
Offside, Real Madrid. Marcelo tries a through ball, but Vinícius Júnior is caught offside.
Substitution
Substitution, Real Madrid. James Rodríguez replaces Federico Valverde.
Substitution
Substitution, Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior replaces Eden Hazard.
Substitution
Substitution, Galatasaray. Emre Mor replaces Jean Michael Seri.
Attempt saved. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Marcelo.
Attempt blocked. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Booking
Steven Nzonzi (Galatasaray) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Steven Nzonzi (Galatasaray).
Casemiro (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, Galatasaray. Conceded by Sergio Ramos.
Substitution
Substitution, Galatasaray. Omer Bayram replaces Younès Belhanda.
Attempt blocked. Florin Andone (Galatasaray) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked. Assisted by Mariano with a cross.
Attempt missed. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Marcelo.
Attempt saved. Marcelo (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) hits the bar with a right footed shot from the centre of the box. Assisted by Karim Benzema with a through ball.
Foul by Jean Michael Seri (Galatasaray).
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
