UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadyumu - Istanbul Wednesday 2 December 2020 İstanbul Başakşehir 18.55CET (20.55 local time) RB Leipzig Group H - Matchday 5 Last updated 01/12/2020 03:30CET UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OFFICIAL SPONSORS Match background 2 Legend 5 1 İstanbul Başakşehir - RB Leipzig Wednesday 2 December 2020 - 18.55CET (20.55 local time) Match press kit Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadyumu, Istanbul Match background İstanbul Başakşehir have little margin for error as they welcome Leipzig to Turkey in the penultimate round of Group H games. • The Turkish champions, who went down 2-0 in Germany on Matchday 1 as a result of Angeliño's double for the home side, have three points to their name, three behind Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain, with Manchester United leading the section on nine. Form guide İstanbul Başakşehir • İstanbul Başakşehir's last home game brought a famous win, 2-1 against Manchester United thanks to first-half strikes from Demba Ba and Edin Višća to give the Turkish champions their first goals and points in the UEFA Champions League proper. The debutants had lost both of their first two games in the group stage 2-0, at Leipzig and at home to Paris, and went down 4-1 at United last time out. • Başakşehir secured their first UEFA Champions League group stage appearance by last season becoming only the sixth club to lift the Turkish Süper Lig title. • The Turkish team have twice featured in UEFA Champions League qualifying, losing to Sevilla in the 2017/18 play- offs having beaten Club Brugge in the previous round, and going out to Olympiacos in the 2019/20 play-offs. • Başakşehir have won only one of their six matches in UEFA Champions League qualifying (D2 L3). • Başakşehir made their European debut in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League and have featured in every season since. • In 2019/20, after losing both legs against Olympiacos (0-1 h, 0-2 a), İstanbul Başakşehir went on to finish first in their UEFA Europa League section, picking up ten points to come out on top ahead of Roma, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsberg. They then produced a memorable comeback against Sporting CP in the round of 32 (1-3 a, 4-1 h aet), but were beaten in the last 16 by Copenhagen (1-0 h, 0-3 a). • İstanbul Başakşehir are the sixth Turkish club to appear in the UEFA Champions League group stage, after Galatasaray (16 appearances), Beşiktaş (7), Fenerbahçe (6), Bursaspor and Trabzonspor (both 1). • The Owls are one of four teams making their group stage debut in 2020/21; Midtjylland (Group D), Krasnodar and Rennes (both E) are the others. • The Istanbul team have been victorious in four of their last six home European matches (L2). However, overall they have managed only six victories in their 17 European home fixtures (D5 L6), scoring 17 goals and conceding 17. • Başakşehir have drawn both previous home games against German visitors 1-1, both in the UEFA Europa League group stage – against Hoffenheim in 2017/18 and Mönchengladbach last season, Edin Višća scoring in both matches. • Home and away, the Istanbul side have won one of their five matches against Bundesliga opponents (D2 L2), 2-1 at Mönchengladbach last season with Enzo Crivelli scoring a 91st-minute winner. Leipzig • Leipzig have lost both away games in in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League, going down 5-0 at Manchester United – their heaviest European defeat – on Matchday 2 before a 1-0 loss in Paris. In contrast they have won their two home games, defeating İstanbul Başakşehir and Paris (2-1). • This is Leipzig's third UEFA Champions League group campaign, all in the last four seasons, and their fourth foray into European football overall. • The 2019/20 campaign proved to be the most successful in Leipzig's brief European history, Julian Nagelsmann's side going all the way to the semi-finals. Leipzig picked up 11 points to finish first in their section – they had come third in their two previous group stage campaigns in UEFA competition – ahead of Lyon, Benfica and Zenit. • Leipzig then beat 2018/19 runners-up Tottenham in their first UEFA Champions League knockout tie (1-0 a, 3-0 h) before a 2-1 defeat of Atlético de Madrid in their one-off quarter-final in Lisbon prior to that defeat by Paris. • Leipzig have now won ten of their 20 UEFA Champions League fixtures (D3 L7). • Third in the Bundesliga for the second season in a row in 2019/20, this is Leipzig's fourth European campaign and only their 39th match. In 2017/18 they became the first team to make their European debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage. • Leipzig won three of their four away games in last season's UEFA Champions League, drawing the other. Their away record in Europe is now W6 D5 L7. 2 İstanbul Başakşehir - RB Leipzig Wednesday 2 December 2020 - 18.55CET (20.55 local time) Match press kit Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadyumu, Istanbul • This is Leipzig's fourth game against a Turkish club, and second in Turkey; they lost away (0-2) and at home (1-2) against Beşiktaş in 2017/18, the former their first away match in European football. Links and trivia • Fredrik Gulbrandsen scored Salzburg's winners in their victories against Leipzig away (3-2) and at home (1-0) in the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League group stage. • Justin Kluivert scored home (4-0) and away (3-0) in Roma's victories against İstanbul Başakşehir in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage. • Alexander Sørloth scored a 90th-minute equaliser to earn Trabzonspor a 2-2 Turkish Süper Lig draw at Başakşehir on 28 October 2019; Martin Škrtel had made it 2-1 to the home side. • Has played in Turkey: Alexander Sørloth (Trabzonspor 2019/20 loan) • Have played in Germany: Hasan Ali Kaldırım (Kaiserslautern 2006–09, Mainz 2009/10) Júnior Caicara (Schalke 2015–17) Danijel Aleksić (Greuther Fürth 2010/11 loan) Berkay Özcan (Karlsruhe 2012/13, Stuttgart 2013–19, Hamburg 2019) Demba Ba (Hoffenheim 2007–11) • Hasan Ali Kaldırım (Neuwied) and Berkay Özcan (Karlsruhe) were both born in Germany. • Have played together: Martin Škrtel & Péter Gulácsi (Liverpool 2008–13) Danijel Aleksić & Kevin Kampl (Greuther Fürth 2010/11) Fredrik Gulbrandsen & Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano (Salzburg 2016/17) Fredrik Gulbrandsen & Hee-chan Hwang, Amadou Haidara (Salzburg 2016–19) Berkay Özcan & Hee-chan Hwang (Hamburg 2019) Nacer Chadli & Benjamin Henrichs (Monaco 2018/19) Fredrik Gulbrandsen & Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls 2017) • International team-mates: Fredrik Gulbrandsen & Alexander Sørloth (Norway) • Marcel Sabitzer's penalty gave Austria a 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory away to Sørloth's Norway on 4 September. • Nacer Chadli scored an own goal in Belgium's 4-2 UEFA Nations League win against Yussuf Poulsen's Denmark on 18 November. Latest news İstanbul Başakşehir • Martin Škrtel's next appearance in UEFA club competition will be his 100th. • İstanbul Başakşehir's five-match unbeaten league run (W4 D1) was ended on 21 November by a 3-2 loss at city rivals Beşiktaş despite Fredrik Gulbrandsen's two goals in the last nine minutes. They have had won their previous four Süper Lig matches. • The Turkish champions now have six wins in their last 18 matches in all competitions (D2 L10). Their run without a victory was stretched to three matches by Saturday's 3-3 draw at home to Denizlispor, a game in which they had led 3-0 and in which they conceded twice in added time. • Gulbrandsen scored twice on Saturday to make it five goals in his last four games; he has found the net in three successive Süper Lig matches. • The 17-year-old Turkey Under-21 international defender Ravil Tagir, who was signed from Altınordu in the summer transfer window, made his competitive debut for İstanbul Başakşehir against Denizlispor. • İstanbul Başakşehir's title defence kicked off with three successive 2-0 defeats, before a goalless draw at home to Göztepe on 3 October got their first point on the board. • İstanbul Başakşehir also lost their first two league games in their title-winning campaign last season, although their third defeat did not arrive until their 19th fixture. • The Turkish champions lost 3-1 to second-tier İstanbulspor in a friendly during the November international break. Giuliano scored Başakşehir's only goal from the penalty spot. 3 İstanbul Başakşehir - RB Leipzig Wednesday 2 December 2020 - 18.55CET (20.55 local time) Match press kit Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadyumu, Istanbul • Deniz Türüç scored Turkey's second goal in a 3-3 friendly draw against Croatia on 11 November. • Edin Višća set up Bosnia and Herzegovina's goal in the 3-1 UEFA Nations League defeat against the Netherlands on 15 November. • Mert Günok missed Saturday's draw with Denizlispor due to illness. • Júnior Caiçara tore an achilles tendon on Matchday 1 and is expected to be sidelined for several months after undergoing surgery. • Enzo Crivelli has not played since being replaced early in the 2-1 win at Konyaspor on 1 November due to a hamstring injury. • Mahmut Tekdemir, who suffered a groin injury against Antalyaspor on 24 October, returned to action as a late substitute in Turkey's UEFA Nations League game against Russia on 15 November (3-2); he started the 2-0 defeat in Hungary three days later. Leipzig • Leipzig's record in this season's Bundesliga is W6 D2 L1; they were 2-1 victors at home to Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.