Champions League Group A: Madrid faces Galatasaray challenge, PSG looks to continue unbeaten run

Real Madrid will look for its first win of its Champions League campaign, while an unbeaten PSG will take on Club Brugge

Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid is at the bottom of Group A, with one point from two outings.

Real Madrid will look for its first win of the Champions League campaign when it takes on Turkish side Galatasaray on Tuesday.

The Los Blancos lost their opening group game 3-0 at Paris Saint-Germain and were held to a 2-2 draw by Club Brugge at Santiago Bernabeu, leaving them bottom of the group.

Tuesday's game provides Zidane's men with a chance to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Mallorca in La Liga on Saturday and Toni Kroos, Eden Hazard and Dani Carvajal are back in the squad.

However, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric will miss the game after the pair suffered injuries while on international duty. After scoring in Wales' 1-1 draw with Croatia in Cardiff, Bale left the field limping and was later reported to be suffering from cramp, while Modric had to be substituted having sustained bruising to his right quadriceps.

The pair are joined by out-of-favour striker Mariano Diaz and calf injury victim Lucas Vazquez in missing the trip to Istanbul for a game in which Madrid badly need a win to revive its hopes of qualifying from Group A.

STATS BOX 1  - Galatasaray's only win in their last 17 European matches against Spanish opposition was their 3-2 win over Real Madrid in the 2012-13 Champions League quarter-final second leg (W1 D4 L12). 3  - Real Madrid are winless in three Champions League matches (W0 D1 L2), last going on a longer run between November 2005 and September 2006 (five matches), with current boss Zinedine Zidane featuring in three of those games.

 

- PSG looks to continue unbeaten streak -

After beating Real Madrid and Galatasaray comprehensively, PSG will look to extend its unbeaten run as it takes on Club Brugge.

Neither Kylian Mbappe nor Edinson Cavani will be fit enough to play the full 90 minutes though, according to coach Thomas Tuchel. PSG has included Mbappe and Cavani in its travelling party for the trip to Belgium, but Tuchel has a decision to make about how long they feature for, if at all.

Mbappe returned to action against Nice last Friday, scoring as a substitute in the 4-1 win following three weeks out with a thigh strain. Cavani did not get off the bench in Nice, with the Uruguay star being managed more carefully given his absence of almost two months with a hip injury.

STATS BOX 6  - Since losing eight Champions League games in a row between September 2016 and October 2018, Club Brugge are unbeaten in six in the competition (W1 D5 L0). 5  - PSG last faced Belgian opponents in the Champions League in the 2017-18 group stage, winning 4-0 away and 5-0 at home against Anderlecht.

( With inputs from Omnisport )