Liverpool's Disaster Climax in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, WEDNESDAY – Liverpool is not in good shape at the beginning of the 2025-2026 season. Although they still occupy the top position in the English Premier League, the performance of "The Reds" is still fraught with flaws. This issue reached its climax at RAMS Park Stadium, Istanbul, on Wednesday (1/10/2025 WIB). They suffered a 0-1 defeat to Galatasaray.

The zero points from the "city of two continents," a term for Istanbul, indicate that it is time for Liverpool to engage in self-reflection, particularly for coach Arne Slot. The consecutive defeats against Galatasaray and Crystal Palace occurred because Slot has yet to find the effective formula to address several weaknesses in his team.

Liverpool in the group stage of last season only suffered defeat in the final match at home against PSV Eindhoven. They had previously played seven games with victories.

A contrasting condition has emerged now. Virgil van Dijk and his teammates ended the match with their heads bowed when the game had just entered the second day of the early round. In fact, Liverpool has recorded consecutive losses in two away games in the Champions League group stage.

The penalty goal executed by Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen in the 16th minute was enough for Galatasaray to secure points and achieve their first victory in this season's Champions League. Despite their continuous efforts, Liverpool failed to overcome Galatasaray's goalkeeper, Ugurcan Cakir, who made four saves.

In the match in Istanbul, the Reds only created two significant chances. Florian Wirtz had the opportunity to equalize with a potential goal chance of 18 percent in the 32nd minute, but his shot was successfully blocked by Cakir.

At the beginning of the second half, precisely in the 49th minute, Hugo Ekitike's opportunity in front of the home team's goal could not shake Cakir's composure. As 50,651 pairs of eyes in the stands anxiously watched the situation, Cakir thwarted Ekitike's shot, which had a 38 percent chance of scoring.

The lack of creativity in attack amidst 67 percent ball possession and 16 shots indicates that the front line of the Red team is still not ideal. Wirtz, who was brought in from Bayer Leverkusen, has yet to find a clinical nature in front of goal.

Wirtz has played nine matches with only one assist and two yellow cards. He has scored just once while wearing the Liverpool jersey, which occurred in a preseason game against Yokohama F Marinos.

A record of 57 touches and 32 accurate passes appears quite good, but his movements were often anonymous, meaning they did not significantly assist Liverpool's attacking line. His improvisation in the final third of Galatasaray's defense was very minimal, as he only provided one successful dribble and five successful passes in the opponent's defensive zone.

The decision to bench Salah, who had played the full eight previous games, impacted the variation of the attack. Jeremie Frimpong, taking Salah's place, was unable to produce a single shot and also had no successful dribbles, which had been his expertise while defending for Leverkusen.

"It's disappointing because we played to win and we couldn't do that," Slot said in a post-match press conference.

Slot assessed that the defeat to Galatasaray was different from the situation in the game against Palace. His team was completely powerless in Istanbul.

"In the first half, they fought with all their might, so you must commend them. We struggled to play the ball in the second half," he said.

In the first 10 games of the 2025-2026 season, Liverpool have displayed a shaky defense. The defensive crisis is no mere figment of the imagination.

They have conceded in eight matches, only managing to keep a clean sheet against Arsenal and Burnley.

The figure represents a drastic decrease compared to the same period last season. Alisson Becker, the goalkeeper for Liverpool, has only conceded goals in four matches at the beginning of the 2024-2025 campaign.

The weaknesses on the wing side have not yet been fully addressed with the presence of Frimpong and Milos Kerkez. In the last two games, Slot has begun to lose confidence in Frimpong's defensive abilities.

He prefers to deploy Dominik Szoboszlai to fill the right wing-back position. Although he awarded Galatasaray a penalty for fouling Baris Yilmaz, Szoboszlai's contribution is better than that of Kerkez, who is a pure left wing-back.

The captain of the Hungarian national team was able to produce two accurate crosses and one opportunity, while Kerkez's crossing accuracy was zero percent.

"We made several wrong decisions, and they used that to threaten us. I'm very confident we can bounce back. We'll keep working and sticking together. There's no need to panic, but we need to improve," Van Dijk told Amazon Prime.

Liverpool's misfortune has deepened as Alisson and Ekitike return from Turkey with injuries. This confirms that both will be absent for the match against Chelsea on Saturday (4/10/2025).

Meanwhile, Galatasaray recorded their first home victory in the Champions League in seven years. It is no surprise that all the players and supporters celebrated the collection of three points with joy. The roar at RAMS Park became even more pronounced when the French referee, Clement Turpin, blew the final whistle.

Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk reminded his players not to become complacent. According to him, the victory over Liverpool would mean nothing if they fail to continue the positive trend in the remaining six group stage matches.

"We have only won one match. The road is still long. It would be very disappointing if we fail to maintain this performance, so we must prepare for the match against Bodø/Glimt with the same level of focus," said Buruk as reported by the UEFA website (AFP).