St Johnstone vs Galatasaray Preview

Scottish minnows St. Johnston will look to continue their quest to play in the 2021/22 Europa League this season when they host Turkish big hitters Galatasaray this Thursday at the McDiarmid Park in Perth. This match is the second leg of their Europa League group stage qualifier and will see the home stadium filled to capacity for the first time in over a year.

The Saints nicked a draw in the first leg in Turkey thanks to a goal by captain Jason Kerr from the penalty spot after the opposing goalkeeper fouled Chris Kane.

That result means that the Scottish side are unbeaten in nine games while they have also drawn seven of those nine matches.

Callum Davidson’s rallying cry for a full-capacity crowd at McDiarmid Park to back his team shows that he understands that despite a precious away goal, this tie remains finely poised and could go either way.

The home team who are still waiting to play in the Europa League group stages for the first time in their history will look to make the most of this opportunity and become the second Scottish team after Rangers to knock out Galatasaray from the qualifying round of this competition in the last two years.

The visitors showed signs of rustiness last time out and needed a Sacha Boey strike to seal a one-one draw with their opponents in the first leg.

However, with a squad filled with experienced veterans, they are heading into this game as favourites. They are looking to qualify for the Europa League after a poor showing in the Champions League where they were beaten 7-2 on aggregate by PSV.

A win here will book them a meeting with Danish side Randers in the playoff round as they seek to qualify for the group stages of a competition for the first time since the 2019/20 season.