How has AS Monaco fared against Turkish teams?

A win to get closer to the playoffs. That’s AS Monaco’s objective for this match as they host Galatasaray, this Tuesday (9 p.m.) at the Stade Louis-II, on Matchday 6 of the Champions League. On the eve of this crucial match, let’s look back at the 12 previous encounters against Turkish teams in European competitions. 🔙

Veille de @ChampionsLeague.

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— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) December 8, 2025

Fenerbahçe, the start of 2017’s historic run 💪

Let’s start with the tie against Fenerbahçe in 2016-2017. This remains, without a doubt, the most enjoyable for all Monaco supporters to this day, as it launched the incredible journey of Leonardo Jardim and his men in the Champions League. The first leg was complicated, however, with a narrow 2-1 defeat at the Sükrü Saracoglu Stadium.

The match was notably marked by Loïc Badiashile’s first professional minutes, coming on to replace the injured Danijel Subašić and Morgan De Sanctis. But in a packed and raucous Stade Louis-II, the Rouge et Blanc overturned the Turkish side and won 3-1 thanks to a brace from Valère Germain and a goal from Radamel Falcao. The rest, as they say, is history: AS Monaco reached the semifinals of the competition with thrilling ties against Manchester City and Dortmund in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.

Galatasaray, the side faced most often🏅

While Fenerbahçe has only faced them in two encounters, the same cannot be said of Galatasaray, who were played six times between 1988 and 2000. This is a record against a Turkish team. The record? Three wins, one draw, and two losses. They were first eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 1988-1989 Champions Leagye (0-1, 1-1), but the Rouge et Blanc would then take their revenge in the Champions League group stage five years later with two victories (3-0 and 0-2)

The 1993-1994 edition saw them reach the semi-finals against AC Milan, but their most recent encounter was finally more balanced in the 2000-2001 Champions League group stage, as both teams held their home advantage. (a 3-2 loss away to Galatasaray and then a 4-2 win at the Stade Louis-II). These results, however, did not prevent AS Monaco from being eliminated in the group stage.

Besiktas, a mixed memory 😩

After Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, AS Monaco finally faced a third Istanbul-based club, Besiktas, in what remains a rather unpleasant memory. Drawn against the Black Eagles during the 2017-2018 Champions League group stage, they lost 2-1 at the Stade Louis-II before securing a 2-2 draw in the return leg.

In both matches, they had opened the scoring, through Radamel Falcao and Rony Lopes respectively. These results were insufficient to continue their European campaign, as they finished fourth behind Leipzig, Porto, and the Istanbul team.

Trabzonspor, the most recent ⏳

While all these encounters took place in the Champions League, the two most recent were finally played in the 2022-2023 Europa League group stage against Trabzonspor. With one win and one loss, the Rouge et Blanc could ill afford any mistakes before hosting the Turkish side at the Stade Louis-II. It was a mission clearly understood as they won 3-1 without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the return tie is more complicated a week later with a 4-0 loss  in a lively atmosphere in Trabzon. This setback, however, did not prevent Monaco from finishing in the top two, thus qualifying for the round of 16 where they would face Bayer Leverkusen and a certain Lukáš Hrádecký.

Record against Turkish clubs: 5 wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses, with 21 goals scored and 18 conceded.

1988-89 Champions League (Quarterfinal, First Leg): Monaco – Galatasaray: 0-1
1988-89 Champions League (Quarterfinal, Second Leg): Galatasaray – Monaco: 1-1
1993-94 Champions League (MD 3): Monaco – Galatasaray: 3-0
1993-94 Champions League (MD 4): Galatasaray – Monaco: 0-2
2000-01 Champions League (MD 1): Galatasaray – Monaco: 3-2
2000-01 Champions League (MD 5): Monaco – Galatasaray: 4-2

2016-17 Champions League (Third Round, First Leg): Fenerbahçe – Monaco: 2-1
2016-17 Champions League (Third Round, Second Leg): Monaco – Fenerbahçe: 3-1

2017-18 season, Champions League (MD3): Monaco – Besiktas: 1-2
2017-18 season, Champions League (MD4): Besiktas – Monaco: 1-1

2022-23 season, Europa League (MD3): Monaco – Trabzonspor: 3-1
2022-23 season, Europa League (MD4): Trabzonspor – Monaco: 4-0