The good news for Liverpool is that the situation is salvageable, when it really might not have been. The bad news is that they were distinctly second best for the first three quarters of the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Nobody who saw their second half collapse away to Juventus in the play-off round could be confident Galatasaray are a team capable of squeezing the life out of the second leg. There is a nervousness about them at the back, a persistent sense of misfortune about to strike, but going forward they are breezy, quick and fun. Their only regret will be that, having taken an early lead through the former Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina, they did not add a second goal to give them more to defend at Anfield.
Arne Slot had acknowledged that his side struggle to create chances from open play, but this really was an indictment of long-throw Britain, set-plays seeming their only route to goal – although it should be a matter of concern to all English sides just how often the Spanish referee saw an offence amid what Premier League viewers have come to regard as the routine buffeting of a crowded six-yard box.
And it will be a different game at Anfield. Other crowds whistle but none do so with quite the unanimity, ferocity or pitch of the Galatasaray’ crowd, which is all the more impressive when you consider the breathtaking nature of the walk up the hill to the Ali Sami Yen, which stands above Vadistanbul like a great citadel, protected on all sides by lanes and lanes of intersecting motorway. “The world met hell here, welcome to hell,” said one banner while another, more specifically tailored to the opposition, read, “You are alone in Sami Yen hell.” If hell is other people whistling, this really is the inferno.
Slot had spoken of how taken aback he had been by the noise when Liverpool lost at what is now officially known as RAMS Park back in October and said he hoped his players would be more used to it this time around. But it’s probably not a noise you can get used to, a blood-curdling sound that leaves your ears ringing even in those blessed moments of relief when the home side had the ball.
Not that there were many of those in the first five minutes in which Galatasaray looked distinctly anxious, repeatedly giving the ball away around their own box. But as Slot has complained repeatedly this season, Liverpool have a habit of conceding to the first meaningful attack their opponents have, and so it was again.
In September, it was with pace on the break that Galatasaray troubled Liverpool; this time it was the old vulnerability to set plays that undid them. Somehow as Gabriel Sara’s corner found Victor Osimhen at the back post, he was being marked by Alexis Mac Allister, a four-inch height difference magnified by the Nigerian’s great leap. Osimhen headed across goal and Lemina nodded in.
The early lead meant Galatasaray could play in just the way that suits them, counter-attacking at great pace down the flanks and crossing for Osimhen. The former Napoli striker is the great favourite of the home fans, something reflected in a pre-match tifo honouring his mother, who died when he was still a child. It’s easy to see why he is so popular. There are very few centre-forwards in the world with such a complete range of skills and it’s frankly baffling that his agent got him into a contractual situation where none of the major western European clubs would sign him.
It could easily have been 2-0 before half-time, Osimhen putting a header just wide and Giorgi Mamardashvili, in for the injured Alisson, shovelling away an awkward inswinging cross from Noa Lang and then denying Davinson Sánchez with a more orthodox dive. Liverpool had a little more of the ball early in the second half, and might have equalised when a corner fell for Mac Allister 12 yards out. The Argentinian, though, dragged his shot wide. When Mohamed Salah, having barely been involved, was taken off before the hour, it was indicative of just how little danger Liverpool had posed.
It could have been far worse for Liverpool. Osimhen seemed to have doubled the lead but he was denied by a generous VAR offside decision that deemed Baris Yilmaz to have been offside in the build-up, forcing Ibrahima Konaté into an ill-judged backpass. But what VAR giveth, it taketh away and Liverpool soon had a goal of their own ruled out, the ball striking the arms of both Konaté and Virgil van Dijk as it was bundled over the line from a Dominik Szoboszlai corner.
There were chances for Liverpool in the final quarter, but this was Galatasaray’s night. The question is whether one goal is enough.
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