The Champions League reaches the halfway point Wednesday as Manchester United travel to Turkey to face Istanbul Basaksehir F.K.

A Tale of Two seasons

 As poor as United has been in the Premier League (seven points in six games), their return to the Champions League has been very impressive.

First, they beat last season’s finalists PSG 2-1 in Paris on matchday one.

They followed that up by thrashing the semi-finalists from a season ago RB Leipzig 5-0 last week.

On the other hand, the Turkish Champions are unbeaten in their last five domestic league encounters but are winless in the Champions League.

Lineup News and Notes

 Eric Bailly remains sidelined for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer until the international break with an injury.

Newcomer Alex Telles is still isolating after testing positive for COVID.

For Istanbul, Belgian Nacer Chadli has yet to suit up for his new club and remains a question mark through injury.

Their skipper Mahmut Tekdemir has missed the team’s last two games and is doubtful for Wednesday’s home match.

Right-back Junior Caicara has a ruptured Achilles tendon and is out long term.

French striker Enzo Crivelli may not be available either after taking a knock over the weekend in a win over Konyaspor.

Familiarity

 They may never have met before however, the Owls have many players who know the Premier League quite well.

Former Man United right-back Rafael made 170 appearances for the Reds.

Martin Skrtel was a centre-back at Merseyside for Liverpool while striker Demba Ba previously played for Chelsea.

Previous visits to Turkey

 In the past Man United’s results against Turkish clubs have been mixed.

In the early 1990s, United had successive draws against Galatasaray which ended their Champions League campaign early.

Since then they’ve won three times (against Fenerbahce, Besiktas, and Bursaspor) and lost three (once to Galatasaray and twice to Fenerbahce).

United’s last visit to Turkey produced a 2-1 defeat to Fenerbahce in 2016 with Wayne Rooney scoring a wonder goal in a losing effort.

Who’s hot

 Marcus Rashford has been a force to be reckoned with in the Champions League so far.

United’s Player of the Month has four goals in the first two Champions League games this season including a hat-trick last week as a substitute.

For Istanbul, Edin Visca has three goals in his last three games in the Turkish Super League.

He’s coming off a season where he scored 19 goals in all competitions, a career-high.

Where they sit

 United are top of Group H with 6 points from two games.

Istanbul is still searching for their first point of the Champions League and has yet to score a goal, losing 2-0 to both PSG and Leipzig.

Match Info

 Kickoff from Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium is scheduled for 5:55 pm. (JSL)