Rangers v Galatasaray: Is it on TV, who to watch, form guide, preview, last match

Gheorghe Hagi was in the Galatasaray line-up the last time the Turkish side visited Glasgow.

Steven Gerrard’s side have been in fine fettle so far this season and warmed up for their third European match of the season with a powerful performance in the 5-1 win over Motherwell on Sunday.

Strength in depth was key then with several regular first team players missing and some lesser seen figures like Jordan Jones and Calvin Bassey staking a claim to be involved on Thursday night.

Galatasaray are one of the biggest names in European football and have a formidable record on the continent, however Rangers European adventures under Steven Gerrard have been notable and Thursday evening’s one-off play-off encounter has all the looking of an intriguing tie between two sides so far unbeaten this season.

Calvin Bassey tussles with Motherwell's Allan Campbell during Sunday's game (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

Match details

Who: Rangers v Galatasaray

What: UEFA Europa League

Where: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow

Galatasaray fans will have to make do with a live stream of the game.

When: 7.45pm, Thursday October 1

How to watch

Premier Sports, who have shown some of the Europa League qualifying matches up to this point are showing Tottenham v Maccabi Haifa on Thursday evening.

That means it’s a Rangers TV offering and the club’s channel will begin coverage around 7pm. Season ticket holders will receive £5 off the match streaming fee.

Former Rangers signing target Jardel moved to Galatasaray years after his Ibrox deal fell through. (Picture: SNS/Jeff Holmes)

Who to Watch

There’s plenty of well-known faces in Fatih Terim’s squad. Perhaps the biggest name is Radamel Falcao in attack with four goals in seven appearances, but Arda Turan is the one who makes the Istanbul club tick. Back where he forged his name after a spell in Spain with Atletico Madrid and a less successful stint at Barcelona, he’s instrumental in linking up the play from middle to front for the Colombian and fellow frontman Ryan Babel, once a pacy striker playing in a Liverpool side captained by Steven Gerrard, who scored in last week’s win over Hadjuk Split to set up the Ibrox meeting.

Opposition Form

Galatasaray drew 0-0 with arch rivals Fenerbahce on Sunday – the first time this season they’d failed to score. With a 3-1 scoreline and a 2-0 win in both the Europa League matches and Turkish Super League games to this point there’s an unbeaten record at stake for both Rangers and the Turkish side on Thursday night.

Previous Meetings

The sides last met, twice, some 20 years ago. Rangers trailed 3-0 to the Turkish champions in the then Ali Sami Yen stadium, including conceding a goal to one-time target Jardel. Dick Advocaat’s team fought back to 3-2 with a late goal from Giovanni van Bronckhorst.At Ibrox a few weeks later, the sides played out a drab 0-0 affair, most notable now for being the second Ibrox appearance of Gheorghe Hagi – father of current Rangers forward Ianis.