Galatasaray vs Man Utd LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as thrilling clash ends in draw

Erik ten Hag giving his pre-match thoughts to TNT Sports: “I was just on the pitch. It was raining the whole day. Manchester weather. We are very used to it. I think the pitch is good.

“We are happy Anthony Martial is fit over a long period. We want to keep him fit, he will contribute this season.

“Rasmus [Hojlund]’s speed is a huge weapon. We want to use that.

“Sofyan [Amrabat] is used to playing big games, and has a lot of experience to play big games, with big atmospheres whereas [Kobbie Mainoo] is returning from an injury. He has to get used to a number of games at a high level with high intensity.

“We have to make the crowd whistle. Don’t quieten the crowd, we have to make sure they are whistling all the time because then we are playing well. We look forward.”

Bruno Fernandes is expecting difficult periods for Manchester United tonight but is looking forward to playing in the intense atmosphere.

“You know that Galatasaray away is going to be great, it is going to be an amazing atmosphere,” the United captain said. “I think when you are a kid you want to play in this kind of atmosphere.

“We know that it’s going to be tough, it’s going to be difficult, but we have to think that we can do it because we have done it in the past in difficult situations.”

Manchester United’s only victory in this season’s Champions League is the 1-0 home win against Copenhagen on Matchday 3, in which goalkeeper André Onana saved an added-time penalty.

Rasmus Højlund, meanwhile, has scored five goals in this season’s group stage, level with Álvaro Morata as top scorer after Matchday 4.

It’s not quite hell any more, and Manchester United no longer look so tormented, but they do need salvation on Wednesday. Galasataray’s relatively new Rams Park stadium will be the stage for a definitive point in a season of hinge moments – at least, if Erik ten Hag’s side get through it, until the next one.

United need victory to have any chance of getting through to the Champions League, but really know they need two in a row. The reason that has an importance for stakes beyond staying in the most prestigious competition is that such a key step can have an effect on everything that follows because of its significance. It is either confirmation that the team is on course or more serious cause for doubt.

Ten Hag has endured a constant back-and-forth this season where the team has occasionally been convincing but results have never been consistent. Even some of the better victories have had that sense of only momentarily disguising the problems. The 3-0 win over Everton was a case in point because of how Sean Dyche’s side got at them before Marcus Rashford’s penalty.

This is Manchester United’s first trip to Turkey since a 2-1 loss at Istanbul Basaksehir in the 2020/21 Champions League.

That loss made it three successive defeats away to Turkish teams since United’s last win, a 3-0 success at Bursaspor on Matchday 4 in 2010/11.

Home and away, United have lost three of their last four games against Turkish clubs, the exception a 4-1 home win against Istanbul Basaksehir in November 2020.

All seven of the sides’ previous fixtures have come in the Champions League, perhaps the most famous the first, when Galatasaray drew 3-3 at Old Trafford in the 1993/94 second round first leg with Kubilay Türkyilmaz scoring twice.

The Turkish champions progressed to the group stage on away goals following a 0-0 draw in the second leg.

Galatasaray claimed a first win in England on Matchday 2 thanks to Mauro Icardi’s 81st-minute strike earning a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford.

Former United winger Wilfried Zaha had given the visitors a 23rd-minute lead but two Rasmus Højlund goals looked to have turned the match in the home side’s favour only for Kerem Aktürkoğlu to level with 19 minutes left to set the stage for Icardi’s dramatic late strike.

With Bayern Munich already confirmed as section winners, the race is on for second place and Galatasaray are level on points with Copenhagen, one ahead of Manchester United.

There is the possibility that United could shoot from fourth to second this evening.

There are times when managing Manchester United does not seem the only impossible job at Old Trafford. The captaincy comes with an armband, a status and a guarantee of criticism, some of it from the club’s most iconic skipper.

Even when Bruno Fernandes took an unselfish approach, a player sometimes accused of shooting too much deciding another needed a goal more and allowing Marcus Rashford to end his drought from the penalty spot at Everton on Sunday, a gesture did not bring universal acclaim. “Absolute bloody rubbish,” said Roy Keane, the uncompromising pragmatist who took the view that goals should not be gifted.

Paul Ince has suggested Fernandes should be stripped of the captaincy. Gary Neville has been outspoken about the Portuguese in both last season’s 7-0 thrashing at Anfield and last month’s 3-0 Manchester derby defeat, seeing his complaints to referees as whingeing and has accused him of trying to hurt John Stones.

Rasmus Højlund has become one of just seven players to score five or more goals in their first four appearances in the Champions League, group stage to final.