Key events
GOAL! Galatasaray 1-1 Liverpool (van Dijk 70)
The ball’s swung into the mixer. It hits Konate, then the back of Van Dijk. The six-yard box is beyond crowded. The ball dribbles into the net. Nobody celebrates, but the referee points to the centre circle! However VAR will have to unpick this rugby-style ruck…
69 min: Mac Allister rolls the ball down the inside-left channel for Szoboszlai, who earns another Liverpool corner. Szoboszlai takes it himself, and …
68 min: Sara nearly splits Liverpool’s defence with a simple pass down the middle, but Gomez is on hand to intercept and put an end to Lang’s ambitions.
66 min: … and now Ekitike barges his way clear down the inside-left channel, but can’t lob Cakir when one on one! The keeper flaps the ball wide left, and nothing comes of the following corner. A big chance to swing the momentum goes by.
65 min: That was a very generous offside decision, because I’m not 100 percent sure Yilmaz was interfering with play. Konate gets away with the dreadful backpass, and the silent-movie pratfall.
NO GOAL! Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool
63 min: Liverpool escape! Yilmaz was offside earlier in the move, and Konate gets away with a huge mistake! That was beyond farcical. The big man is enduring a total nightmare.
GOAL! Galatasaray 2-0 Liverpool (Osimhen 62)
Konate passes weakly back towards his own goal. Lang nips in. He barges down the inside-right channel and dinks into the centre. Konate, facing the wrong way and falling over, tries to backheel clear but only manages to farcically tee the ball up for Osimhen, who slams home!
60 min: Yep. Frimpong comes on for Salah, while Robertson replaces Kerkez. Salah wanders off without expression. Journalists in the Ali Sami Yen prepare for some hot mixed-zone action.
59 min: Arne Slot is preparing to send on Frimpong. This could be interesting. Salah has done absolutely nothing. Is he destined for the hook?
57 min: Szoboszlai aims a curler towards the bottom right. Always wide. He had to take on the shot, though. There was nobody in green anywhere near the Gala box.
56 min: Torreira pushes a pass down the left for Bardakcı, of all players, to break into the Liverpool box. The Galatasaray captain larrups a surprise shot into the side netting.
55 min: Van Dijk is booked for clumsily shoving Yilmaz into touch. That’s both of Liverpool’s defenders on Yilmaz’s flank in the referee’s notepad. Danger here!
54 min: Liverpool slow things down. Then suddenly Mac Allister looks long for Salah down the right. In the old days, it would be game over for Galatasaray. But the legs have gone. Jakobs mops up.
52 min: Konate slaps a simple clearing header straight at Osimhen. And so begins a Galatasaray attack that ends with Lang curling dangerously from the left. Mamardashvili punches clear, solid goalkeeping under pressure from Osimhen.
51 min: Liverpool are winning the territorial game right now. But at the risk of belabouring the point, they can’t get anything going in the final third. A lot of whistling from the home support, which is something.
49 min: Gravenberch has the opportunity to release Salah into the box down the right, but clanks his pass straight into the nearest red and yellow shirt. Liverpool look fine in attack until they reach the final third, at which point the cogs begin to spin too much. Indecision reigns.
47 min: Gomez throws long from the right. The ball’s only half cleared, and drops to Mac Allister, 12 yards out. Mac Allister drags his shot wide left. That’s two big chances, and this is much better from Liverpool already. But then they started the first half like this, too, and see how that panned out.
46 min: Wirtz steals the ball in midfield and feeds Ekitike down the inside left. He shuttles the ball to Szoboszlai, who creams a shot goalwards with power. But straight at Cakir. “While Virgil Van Dijk has lost none of his positional intelligence and general skill as a defender, he is half a step slower than he was,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Konaté has to compensate for that, and mostly he succeeds. It’s in the mostlies where he ends up looking silly.”
Liverpool get the game restarted. No changes. Meanwhile here’s more from Peter Oh: “Turkish delight is one of my favourite sweet treats. It’s soft, chewy, fragrant, nutty, and that dusting of powdered sugar gives it a classy and attractive appearance. In other words, the opposite of Liverpool’s performance so far. I hope chef Arne Slot can adjust his recipe for better results in the second half.”
Half-time postbag. “Thanks for the Graeme Souness reminder, probably his second greatest European hit after decking Dinamo Bucharest skipper Lica Movila at Anfield in the 1984 EC first leg semi-final” – Peadar de Burca
“Victor Osimhen with 10-15% more focus would genuinely be a Batistuta-level striker. He has so many gifts” – Christopher Faherty
“Since last year, Liverpool under Slot have deteriorated. Not sure why he should continue for another season” – Jeff Sax
“I don’t agree with the blanket criticisms of Konate. He’s got skills on the ball, usually makes the right decisions, and controls his emotions and challenges better than most of his peers” – Peter Oh
“Liverpool ‘are a complete shambles at the back. And not too hot in the midfield or up front either.’ So we are Spurs then?” – Ian Copestake
Half-time reading.
HALF TIME: Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool were good for the first five minutes. After that, not so much. Galatasaray could easily be one or two more goals ahead. Arne Slot has a lot of repair work to do during this break.
45 min: There will be two additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Gravenberch spins elegantly into space and feeds Ekitike down the inside-left channel. He stumbles over, and claims to have been fouled by Sanchez, but there wasn’t much in it. Had he managed to stay upright, he’d have been making good towards the Cim Bom box.
42 min: Sara’s daisycutter nearly deflects into the path of Osimhen, six yards out. From the resulting corner, Lang fails to get a header on target. Liverpool really need to hear the half-time whistle.
41 min: Ekitike has the chance to attack down the right, taking advantage of a Sanchez slip, but he opts against first a drive, then a curler. Eventually a cross is floated towards Kerkez, who heads infield for Wirtz, who cushions a weak header straight at Cakir.
39 min: Gravenberch and Van Dijk do the after-you-sir thing in the centre circle, allowing Osimhen to nip in between them and race off with the ball. Nothing comes of the move, but that’s Liverpool to a T right now. They are a complete shambles at the back. And not too hot in the midfield or up front either.
37 min: Mac Allister stands over a free kick on the left. Instead of sending it into the box, it’s worked wide right, where neither Salah nor Gomez are capable of beating the first man.
36 min: … Cakir punches clear. Wirtz has the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box, but tries a cute pass instead. It doesn’t come off.
35 min: Yilmaz is back up and about. The resulting free kick is sent into the mixer by Lang, and easily claimed by Mamardashvili. Liverpool launch a counter, their first attack in a long while and Szoboszlai wins a corner with a cross from the left. He goes over to take the corner himself, and …
33 min: Kerkez is booked for standing on the back of Yilmaz’s ankle. It’s clumsy more than malicious, but Yilmaz felt that and requires treatment. On comes the physio.
