VfB Stuttgart lost for the first time in the Champions League this season after Aleksei Batrakov scored twice in a 2-0 win for Galatasaray on Tuesday.
The Germans threatened early on in the hostile Istanbul atmosphere when Jamie Leweling’s shot came off both posts.
But 14th-placed Gala soon went ahead when Jeff Chabot’s mistake in the box was pounced on by Russian Batrakov, who fired into the top corner.
The stadium speakers were quickly playing Russian music again when the 21-year-old nutmegged keeper Fabian Bredlow on 15 minutes.
Chris Führich thought he had pulled one back, but video review spotted an offside in the build-up.
Stuttgart remain in the top eight after four of eight league phase games, with a trip to Inter coming up at the end of the month. But Sebastian Hoeness’ side can expect to slip out of the automatic qualification places for the last 16 once the rest of this week’s games are completed.
Sporting are fifth, three spots above Stuttgart, after a 1-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to Issa Doumbia sweeping home. The 18th-placed Ukrainian side played their latest home game at Stamford Bridge in London.
The Portuguese outfit look set to appoint Lyon’s Paulo Fonseca as Rui Borges’ replacement, but reserve coach Tiago Fernandes was in charge for this one.
Seven games follow later on Tuesday, including injury-ravaged Bayern Munich at Atlético Madrid, holders and league leaders Paris Saint-Germain visiting Villarreal and under pressure Manchester United boss Michael Carrick hoping for an elusive win at home to Roma.
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