Galatasaray vs Atletico Madrid preview: Los Colchoneros head to Istanbul with UCL last-16 place in sight | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid are on the road for the final time in the 2025-26 Champions League group stage against Galatasaray at Rams Park on Wednesday.

Sitting eighth in the UCL standings heading into the penultimate matchday, Diego Simeone’s men are where they want to be, but will know there is no margin for error with several teams bearing down on them.

After failing to win any of their first two 2026 matches against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid, Atletico responded with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Deportivo and Alaves.

Los Colchoneros now make the trip to Turkey in search of a third straight triumph to make it 12 points from the last 12 available on Champions League duty since losing 4-0 to Arsenal back in October.

Unbeaten in all seven previous meetings against Galatasaray across all competitions, Atletico have had the upper hand in this fixture.

Still, they will be wary of leaving Istanbul empty-handed, having conceded the third-most UCL goals on the road (nine) this term.

Scoring the opener in six of their last seven matches, Wednesday’s visitors have often flown out of the blocks in recent matches, and another fast start should lay the foundation for back-to-back European victories for the first time in just under a year.

After a two-week hiatus at the end of 2025, Galatasaray have had a frenetic start to the new year, with four matches in 12 days already.

Okan Buruk’s men were held to a 1-1 draw against Gaziantep last time out, a result that saw their lead at the top of the Turkish Super Lig standings shrink to one point.

Returning to UCL action for the first time since their narrow 1-0 defeat to Monaco on December 9, the Lions sit 18th in the league-phase table, three points behind Atletico in the race for the final guaranteed round-of-16 spot.

Galatasaray are also just three points clear of Benfica in 25th, highlighting how much things could easily change depending on the outcome of Wednesday’s encounter.

Boosted by the return of Victor Osimhen—whose six goals are the second-most in Europe’s premier club competition —Galatasaray will look to draw on their impressive home record, with just one defeat in 14 matches in front of their fans so far.

However, their only home loss this season came in their last UCL match at Rams Park, a 1-0 defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise.