Galatasaray’s trip to Anfield was already set to be one of the most unusual due to a UEFA ban suffered by the Turkish giants.
Galatasaray’s trip to Anfield was already set to be one of the most unusual Champions League nights Liverpool have hosted in years. Instead of the usual wall of noise from the away end, the Turkish champions are facing a strict UEFA ban that has shut down their travelling support out of the second leg altogether.
Those measures, imposed after crowd trouble in their play‑off tie against Juventus, have sparked anger in Istanbul and prompted the club to launch a formal challenge in a bid to get their fans back into the stadium.
The Turkish giants were originally sanctioned with a €40,000 fine and prohibited from selling away tickets for the second leg on Merseyside, following serious crowd disturbances, object‑throwing and pyrotechnics during their last‑16 play‑off clash with Juventus in Turin on 25 February.
That decision meant no Gala fans would be allowed inside Anfield on March 18 – a huge blow for a club whose identity is so closely tied to its raucous, travelling ultras
However, the Istanbul club did not take the judgment lying down. According to a report from Turkish Football, Galatasaray duly lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the hope of overturning or at least reducing the punishment from the UEFA ban, arguing that a blanket away‑fan ban was disproportionate to the offences committed.
But per the same report, the appeal was rejected on Monday, confirming that Galatasaray will remain barred from distributing any tickets to their fans for the game at Anfield.
Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk said of the ban:
“I don’t find this decision fair. It’s not right to judge it solely from the fans’ perspective; how the police behaved in Turin is also a critical factor,” Buruk argued. “Taking away our fans’ right to be at Anfield for such a massive decider is a heavy punishment.”
The outcome leaves Liverpool preparing for a highly charged second leg in front of a virtually all‑home crowd, with the absence of away supporters likely to tilt the atmosphere even further in the Reds’ favour as they chase a place in the quarter‑finals.
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