Kenan Yildiz: ‘Exciting match, wow at the Galatasaray fans’
Kenan Yildiz admits it is ‘exciting’ as a Turkiye international to play Galatasaray in Istanbul, and scoring for Juventus here ‘would be a dream. All I can say about their fans is wow.’
It kicks off at the Ali Semi Yen in Istanbul at 17.45 GMT (18.45 CET).
This is the first leg of the play-off for a place in the Round of 16, and the second is on Wednesday February 25.
Kenan Yildiz excited by Galatasaray test
“I feel great, when you are in this stadium with these fans, it’s exciting, but we are fired up for a good performance,” Kenan Yildiz told Sky Sport Italia.
Juventus are fresh off a controversial 3-2 Serie A defeat to Inter, where Pierre Kalulu was sent off before half-time for a highly-contentious second bookable offence.
“The last match was very difficult for us after the red card, but I still think we had a great performance down to 10 men.”
Kenan Yildiz was born and raised in Germany, then moved to Italy for Juventus as a teenager, so this is his first time playing in Istanbul as an opponent.
“We’ll do everything today to get a victory. Scoring would be a dream, but let’s play and then see. This is a very difficult match, as Galatasaray are such a great team, and all I can say about their fans is wow.”
Turkiye coach Vincenzo Montella is in the stands to watch the game.