Galatasaray to take on Sparta Prague in Europa League

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

Turkish club Galatasaray will host Czech side Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa League knockout round play-offs first leg at Rams Park on Thursday.

Galatasaray qualified for the UEFA Europa League after finishing third with 5 points in UEFA Champions League Group A, which included Germany's Bayern Munich, England's Manchester United and Denmark's Copenhagen.

Sparta Prague, on the other hand, finished UEFA Europa League Group C, which included Scottish club Rangers, Spanish La Liga side Real Betis and Greek Cypriot club Limassol, at the second spot with 10 points.

About the upcoming clash, Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk said: "We have the ability to do well and get through this round."

"We got an attractive opponent," said Sparta Prague winger Lukas Haraslin about their opponents, adding: "Galatasaray are multiple Turkish champions, so an interesting and challenging match awaits us."

The second leg will be played on Feb. 22 at Epet Arena in Prague.

The winners will participate in Round of 16 of the competition.

- Galatasaray to play their 315th European game

Galatasaray, which bagged their one and only European football trophy, the UEFA Cup (rebranded as Europa League in 2009) in 2000, will play their 315th European game.

The Lions have won 112 of their 314 matches in European competitions while losing in 118 matches and 84 matches ended in a draw.

The Yellow-Reds scored 423 times in the European competitions while conceding 466 goals.

Galatasaray played a total of 92 matches in UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League.

They recorded 36 wins, 31 draws and 25 defeats in the second-tier competition of European club football.

Galatasaray netted 142 goals and conceded 113 goals in UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League.

- UEFA Europa League Fixtures:

Thursday:

Feyenoord-Roma

Young Boys-Sporting Lisbon

Galatasaray-Sparta Prague

Shakhtar Donetsk-Olympique Marseille

Milan-Rennes

Lens-Freiburg

Benfica-Toulouse

Braga-Qarabag