On Wednesday, Galatasaray will play a groundbreaking game in the UEFA Champions League. Against group opponents FC Schalke 04, a large number of regulars are threatening to drop out.

On Wednesday (24 October, 21:00 CET) Turkish champions Galatasaray will welcome FC Schalke 04 in the third UEFA Champions League group match. The Turks are three points behind Schalke, who, like FC Porto, have four points from two matches. A home win in the fight for the first two places in Group D would therefore be immensely important for the Lions.

However, Galatasaray are facing considerable personnel problems before the duel in the league of the champions. Coach Fatih Terim must continue to do without playmaker Emre Akbaba (metatarsal fracture). Now in the last league match against Bursaspor three other players were injured. I reported in the last 2 posts. Both Fernando Reges and Sofiane Feghouli suffered thigh strains in the match, which ruled out a mission on Wednesday. Henry Onyekuru, who did not play against Bursaspor on Friday, is also suffering from a strain in the thigh area. The Nigerian's use is as questionable as that of centre-back Serdar Aziz, who suffered a groin injury against Bursa and, like Fernando and Feghouli, had to break off the match early.

However, the Bundesliga's opponents have also suffered some losses before the groundbreaking European competition match. For example, the Germans are missing central defender Benjamin Stambouli (syndesmosebandriss), left midfielder Bastian Oczipka (inguinal surgery), right-winger Steven Skrzybski (muscle injury) and striker Cedric Teuchert (hip flexor problems). On Saturday, goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann was injured warming up before the Bundesliga match against SV Werder Bremen. There is currently no information available about the exact condition of the goalkeeper.

We will see how the coaches of both teams will to cope with the shortage of personnel. As many key players as will be missing from both teams will mean both: tactical and strategic changes in the game and for the whole team, on both sides. This may mean that we're going to see a game full of mistakes or the total opposite, a game full of surprises, where players who might be playing for the first time want to show themselves and blossom.

Galatasaray is a very home strong team, especially when they play in european competitions they give even more power to do justice to the fans. Schalke and Galatasaray met in 2013 in the Champions League and Galatasaray won once with 3:2 in Schalke and the second leg ended with a 1:1 draw.

My prediction of the match: Galatasaray vs Schalke 2:1.