At risk of a premature exit from Europe's top table, Manchester United's penultimate Group A fixture sees the Red Devils trek to Turkey to face Galatasaray on Wednesday night.
Erik ten Hag's charges only boast a paltry three points from 12 on offer and sit bottom of the rankings as a result, which would also eliminate their hopes of salvation in the Europa League.
While perfect Bayern Munich cannot be caught, an intense three-way battle for second place between Galatasaray, Man United and Copenhagen - all of whom are separated by just one point - is set to materialise, but the Red Devils' chances of a last-16 appearance will be dashed if they lose at Rams Park.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 7
Galatasaray wins: 2
Draws: 3
Man Utd wins: 2
Familiar foes from Champions League campaigns of yesteryear, Man United and Galatasaray met for the seventh time in Europe's top tournament at Old Trafford in October, where Rasmus Hojlund was on hand to finish off two sweeping counter-attacks from the men in red.
Hojlund's pair of strikes came either side of a leveller from one of his attacking predecessors at Old Trafford - Wilfried Zaha - but even after Kerem Akturkoglu had equalised for the visitors again, Man United's luck was seemingly in when Mauro Icardi fluffed his lines from 12 yards.
However, only three minutes after his penalty pain, Icardi delicately dinked the ball over Andre Onana to complete a scintillating turnaround for Galatasaray, who left Old Trafford with a 3-2 triumph to their name - just their second win from seven contests versus the 1999 and 2008 champions.
Prior to October's five-goal thriller, it had been 11 years since Man United and Galatasaray squared up to one another, and that encounter at Rams Park in November 2012 also went the way of the Turkish giants, who had a Burak Yilmaz header to thank for a 1-0 triumph.
Galatasaray are therefore seeking a third successive win over Man United this week, but none of their first five meetings yielded success for the hosts, who were beaten by a 1-0 scoreline at Old Trafford in September 2012 thanks to a seventh-minute Michael Carrick strike.
That slender success also marked a fourth consecutive clean sheet for Man United against their upcoming foes, who were trounced 4-0 at Old Trafford in December 1994 - David Beckham and Roy Keane were among the scorers that day - although they did hold Sir Alex Ferguson's men to a goalless group-stage draw in Istanbul earlier that year.
The 1994-95 campaign marked the second time in a row that Man United and Galatasaray had been drawn to face one another, as during the days of an eight-team group stage in 1993-94, the two clubs were first paired with each other in the foregoing second round.
Once again, their showdown on Galatasaray's turf ended goalless, but their maiden meeting at Old Trafford in October 1993 was a truly captivating clash, where an 80th-minute Eric Cantona effort concluded a mesmerising 3-3 draw at the Theatre of Dreams.
Despite finding the back of the net 10 times at home versus Galatasaray, Man United are yet to breach the Turkish side's defence away from home - against no other side in Europe have they gone as long without scoring a goal on their travels - but Sunday's 3-0 Premier League success over Everton suggests that the Group A basement side can snap that unsightly streak on Wednesday.
Previous meetings
Oct 03, 2023: Man Utd 2-3 Galatasaray (Champions League Group Stage)
Nov 20, 2012: Galatasaray 1-0 Man Utd (Champions League Group Stage)
Sep 19, 2012: Man Utd 1-0 Galatasaray (Champions League Group Stage)
Dec 07, 1994: Man Utd 4-0 Galatasaray (Champions League Group Stage)
Sep 28, 1994: Galatasaray 0-0 Man Utd (Champions League Group Stage)
Nov 03, 1993: Galatasaray 0-0 Man Utd (Champions League Second Round)
Oct 20, 1993: Man Utd 3-3 Galatasaray (Champions League Second Round) body check tags ::
