Liverpool lose to Galatasaray but should consider themselves lucky

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Galatasaray vs Liverpool from the Uefa Champions League as the teams meet in Istanbul for the second time this season for the first leg of their last 16 tie.

The Turkish champions claimed a 1-0 victory over Arne Slot’s side in the league phase in September thanks to Victor Osimhen’s penalty after 16 minutes. The defeat came during a tough spell for the Premier League champions, in which they lost six times in seven games in all competitions.

However, they went on to triumph in five of their remaining six league phase fixtures in Europe, winning the final three by an aggregate scoreline of 10-0, earning them a third-placed finish in the standings and automatic qualification to the last 16.

Galatasaray, meanwhile, were forced to navigate the play-offs after finishing the league phase in 20th, and there was certainly no shortage of drama in their knockout tie against Juventus.

Okan Buruk’s side came from 2-1 down to establish a healthy 5-2 advantage following the first leg in Turkey, but were then beaten 3-0 after 90 minutes in Turin, taking the contest into extra-time. However, Galatasaray were finally able to capitalise on their man advantage following Lloyd Kelly’s second-half red, with goals from Osimhen and Baris Yilmaz clinching victory in the tie.

Galatasaray will hope for another fast start in their tie with Liverpool, with their home leg once again coming first. They will take confidence from Liverpool’s failure to win in each of their three visits in the Champions League, though the Merseyside club do have one particularly fond memory from their travels to Istanbul.

The winner of this tie will face either Chelsea or defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City also in their half of the draw.