Sanchez and Undav embroiled in mass brawl as Galatasaray down Stuttgart in Champions League

Former Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez was caught up in a mass brawl between Galatasaray and Stuttgart players during Tuesday’s Champions League league-phase fixture at Rams Park in Istanbul, which the Turkish side won 2-0 thanks to a first-half brace from Aleksey Batrakov.

The flashpoint came before the half-time whistle when Galatasaray’s Barış Yılmaz and Stuttgart’s Chris Fuhrich contested possession near the touchline. Yılmaz appeared to knock Fuhrich to the ground, and the incident immediately triggered a mass confrontation involving players and staff from both clubs.

Former Brighton forward Denis Undav, part of the Stuttgart squad that made the trip to Istanbul, sprinted over to confront Yılmaz in support of his teammate. That intervention drew in further players from both sides, including Sanchez, who joined Galatasaray from Spurs in the summer of 2023 and ran to back up his teammates before the situation was eventually brought under control.

Premier League referee Chris Kavanagh, who was officiating the match, issued yellow cards to both Yılmaz and Undav once order had been restored.

Commentator Dan O’Hagan captured the moment as it unfolded: “That’s going to carry on here, that little pushing and shoving match. Now it all boils over. Fuhrich and Baris Yilmaz, the first two players. Then they all got involved in it.”

“Major first-half flashpoint,” O’Hagan continued. “Undav gets involved, that all kicks off. Teammates try to have their say and get involved as well. Chaos at this stage.”

The result leaves Galatasaray with a positive return from the fixture, while Stuttgart’s night was defined as much by the tunnel-side drama as by the scoreline itself.