There was no miracle of Istanbul this time, 20 years on from Liverpool’s most famous night in this charming city on the banks of the Bosphorus, but they will need another minor miracle to win the Champions League again this year if they defend like this.
‘Miracle’ is a bit strong but Arne Slot knows his Premier League champions are a shadow of their former selves at that end of the pitch and must improve if they want to be crowned kings of the continent in May.
After losing to Crystal Palace on Saturday they fell to defeat again in this hellish and unwelcoming setting to Galatasaray, with VAR working against the Reds as a 90th-minute penalty was chalked off.
The trip came at a bigger cost, too, with Alisson – the only player to take credit in both bad results this week – and top scorer Hugo Ekitike both pulling up injured, the first one caused by a calamitous piece of defending from Ibrahima Konate that summed up their night.
Victor Osimhen scored the decisive goal as Turkey’s best downed England’s best and the home side continued to cause problems that left Slot scratching his head wondering just what is wrong with his team right now.
When they won the opening seven games of the season, it felt harsh to criticise them because football is a results business. But we could all see that something was missing and performances were way below their sky-high standards.
Victor Osimhen’s goal proved decisive for Galatasaray, who deserved their win over Liverpool
Liverpool fell flat and lost back-to-back games for the second time under Slot
Osimhen fired his penalty down the middle after Dominik Szoboszlai gave away the spot kick
There is no need for panic – this was a poor display but by no means a disgrace, and plenty of teams have wilted in this melting pot by the Marmara Sea. But Liverpool will have boarded their plane home knowing they need to improve tenfold at Chelsea on Saturday.
The chief concern was that it all felt too similar to last weekend, when they lost at Selhurst Park – and not just because of the raucous, hostile welcome (sorry, Palace fans, but the noise here made the sound of the Holmesdale Fanatics feel as calming as a meditation session).
Like in south London, Liverpool defenders were looking at each other puffing their cheeks out for allowing an attacker to sneak in behind at ease only to be luckily bailed out by goalkeeper Alisson. After two minutes, the Brazil No 1 was needed to deny Baris Yilmaz from eight yards.
Even the best shot-stopper in the world can only come to the rescue so many times in one outing, though, as shown at the weekend – and after 16 minutes Liverpool fell behind to send this place into utter bedlam.
Liverpool should have scored seconds earlier, when Ekitike was thwarted by Ugurcan Cakir and Cody Gakpo saw a rebound cleared off the line, but Galatasaray counter-attacked with menace and Yilmaz was fouled by Dominik Szoboszlai in the penalty area.
Was it soft? Yes. Was the situation preventable? Also yes – Liverpool, again, were undone too easily. And while the Turkish team may not be one of Europe’s established elite, they still have a £65million talisman in Osimhen, the former Napoli bagsman, to lead the line.
The Nigerian sent Alisson the wrong way from 12 yards. And the club famous with British fans for ‘Welcome To Hell’, Graeme Souness planting flags and other less savoury events found themselves ahead. The noise was now deafening, inducing a splitting headache.
Liverpool needed to find calm amid the chaos, order among the disruption. Slot needed sign language to get his message across but the general gist was ‘calm down’ as his troops continued to give the ball away cheaply, every Galatasaray interception cheered like a goal.
Alisson and Hugo Ekitike both came off with injuries on a bruising night in more ways than one
Ibrahima Konate endured another poor night and his form is becoming a problem
Ekitike had Liverpool’s best chance of the game after a brilliant run in behind
Virgil van Dijk and his defensive group have plenty to fix with Chelsea coming up
There were some bright moments but the Reds were crying out for some of their substitutes, most notably Mohamed Salah who started on the bench in a meaningful Premier League or Champions League game for the first time since a row with Jurgen Klopp in April 2024.
Despite all the money spent this summer, Salah is still the main man at the club even though it is fair to describe his start to the season as underwhelming. The sight of him and the small matter of £125m Alexander Isak warming up must be anxiety-inducing for opponents.
What is more anxiety-inducing at the moment, though, for Liverpool fans at least, is the form of the defenders, chiefly Konate. The Frenchman was solely at fault for giving the ball away in his own half in the second half, with Osimhen allowed to charge through on goal.
His effort was weak and Alisson managed to save it but injured himself in the process and needed to be substituted, seemingly tweaking a muscle as he tried to close down the angles for Osimhen. A lucky escape for Liverpool but at what cost?
Konate was quick to criticise fans online for calling out his early-season performances. Although some supporters overreact online, it is fair to say the defender – who is out of contract in the summer with Real Madrid sniffing – is far from the level he set last year.
To be fair, he is not alone in that regard. While the winning mentality has largely remained, the overall performances have not been anywhere near their best and that statement would have stood regardless of the final result in this match.
Szoboszlai, Jones and Florian Wirtz cut dejected figures at the end of the game
There were huge celebrations for the home side at full-time in the biggest game of their season
Slot’s men thought they were on track for yet another dose of last-minute drama when Konate went down under the challenge of Wilfried Singo in the box. Referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spot but was overruled by VAR.
It was everything Galatasaray and boss Okan Buruk, a former player here, deserved for a daring, hard-working and efficient performance. They partied long into the night in Istanbul and rightly so.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are top of the tree in the Premier League still, so there is no need for a full-scale inquest just yet but, after losing two games in a row for just the second time in his managerial career, Slot knows he has several problems to fix.
