Arne Slot’s 100th game as Liverpool boss ended miserably as his side lost at Galatasaray for the second time in this season’s Champions League campaign.
Having been defeated 1-0 in a lethargic league-phase encounter back in September, Slot’s side were equally dishevelled on their latest visit to Istanbul, tormented by the same Gala striker and losing by the same scoreline in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Victor Osimhen, scorer in the first meeting, teed up Mario Lemina from a corner to give his side the advantage ahead of a return leg at Anfield next week. And it could have been much worse.
Osimhen had the ball in the net again in the second half, with Liverpool reprieved by a generous VAR decision that controversially adjudged Aydin Yilmaz to have been offside in the build-up despite not actually touching the ball. Only Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane have scored more European goals than Osimhen this term.
Liverpool, ragged at one end and rusty at the other, failed to create much meaningful and when they did, Hugo Ekitike contrived to strike straight at Ugurcan Cakir. Florian Wirtz tried his best to make his presence felt on his first start since mid-February but failed with two scuffed efforts, while Alexis Mac Allister also steered a whisker wide from his best opening.
The visitors were ridden with mistakes and only have themselves to blame for the deficit they now carry into next Wednesday’s decider on Merseyside, marking the first time they have lost twice away from home to the same side in the same season in major European competition.
The one time they did manage to force the ball beyond Cakir, VAR intervened to penalise Ibrahima Konate for handball. No doubt that call was the correct one.
Virgil van Dijk made his 29th consecutive start in Istanbul. It is the longest run by any outfield player for Liverpool since Jamie Carragher notched up 33 successive starts back in 2009/10 – and it is showing. The Liverpool captain looked leggy throughout and made poor defensive decisions. Unfortunately for Slot, he was not the only one.
Konate mirrored Van Dijk’s shakiness and the uncertainty seemed to carry right the way through the spine of the team. Mohamed Salah was non-existent while Ekitike snatched at chances. Wirtz was ineffective too.
One noticeable feature from Liverpool’s display was just how reliant they were on set-pieces to produce moments of danger. Everything from open play was misjudged or overhit. Even if Galatasaray do implode at Anfield next week, which is possible, few teams will fear Slot’s side in the latter stages of this competition.
Their performance in both boxes exposed familiar failings and, this far into the season, they are surely liable to persist.
Slot rues ‘bad deja vu’
Liverpool boss Arne Slot speaking to UEFA:
“It’s bad deja vu, you could say. The score is the same as the match three months ago. But we played a game where we could have scored much more. We created many chances; we missed many. We were really good in the first 15 minutes. But we couldn’t find the goal.
“This is a very difficult stadium. Both for opposing players and opposing coaches. It’s hard to concentrate and it’s hard to communicate. Galatasaray are very lucky to have such an atmosphere.
“Now we have a match against Galatasaray at our home stadium. We have fantastic fans who always give us strength. They will show this at Anfield, our home ground, and will be a driving force for us.”
