Galatasaray Undaunted by Anfield's "Hell"

LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY — Galatasaray arrived at Anfield Stadium, the home of Liverpool, to play the second leg of the Round of 16 in the Champions League, Thursday (19/3/2026) at 03:00 WIB, under less than ideal circumstances. They will feel as if they are in a prison as the entire stands will be filled with supporters of the home team. Furthermore, "The Lions" have rarely been fortunate when visiting England.

Imagine Galatasaray playing at one of the world's most haunted football stadiums, Anfield, without a shred of support from their loyal fans. UEFA punished Galatasaray for the anarchic behavior of their supporters during their visit to Juventus in the second leg of their Champions League knockout playoff match.

This means that approximately 61,000 seats in the Anfield stands will be filled by supporters of "The Reds." Galatasaray players will not have a section in the stands to celebrate any goals they might score. Such celebrations will only take place in the technical area of the visiting team on the side of the field.

Understanding the situation, Galatasaray Coach Okan Buruk reminded his players not to pay attention to their 1-0 advantage from the first match in Istanbul. Buruk emphasized that difficult times will be faced by his team from the kickoff.

"The second match at their home ground will present us with another very difficult game. A fierce battle awaits us, but I always have faith in my players," said Buruk, as reported by the UEFA website, Tuesday (17/3/2026).

In the history of encounters against English teams in the Champions League, Galatasaray has only brought home a victory once in 12 visits to the home ground of the "Land of King Charles" club.

The moment was created when defeating Manchester United, 3-2, in the group stage of the 2023–2024 edition. Meanwhile, 11 other visits ended with eight losses and three draws.

However, that historical record can be countered by the mental condition of the Lions squad. They arrived at Anfield with a streak of five consecutive victories across all competitions, including a 3-0 advantage over Basaksehir, Sunday (15/3/2026).

Galatasaray is currently leading the Turkish Super League standings with a seven-point advantage over their closest rival, Fenerbahce. They have a strong chance of becoming champions of Turkey for four consecutive seasons since the 2022–2023 edition.

However, Galatasaray has a poor away record in the Champions League this season. They suffered defeats in three away matches against Juventus, Manchester City, and AS Monaco. The only away victory in Europe came when they crushed Ajax Amsterdam, 3-0, on November 6.

Mario Lemina, the midfielder of Galatasaray, stated that his team arrived at Anfield with positive momentum. He mentioned that the ambition at Liverpool's home is to achieve victory.

"We played the first match well. There is one more match left at Anfield. We want to win there to advance to the quarter-finals," said Lemina, who scored the only goal against Liverpool in the first match.

If they can maintain their advantage over Liverpool, Galatasaray will end their wait to appear in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after 13 seasons. Their last appearance in the last eight was in the 2012–2013 edition.

One interesting aspect of the second duel at Anfield is the potential for a flurry of goals. In five away matches, Galatasaray has averaged 3.4 goals per game in Europe. Meanwhile, in four encounters at Anfield during this season's Champions League, an average of 4.25 goals per game has been recorded.

That note opens the opportunity for both teams to score in a tactical duel at Anfield. From Liverpool's perspective, the victory is extremely important for them. Since Manager Arne Slot took charge of the Reds for his 100th match, the Dutch coach has yet to deliver a positive result.

After losing in Istanbul, they were held by Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield last weekend. Liverpool's attack has only scored once in their last two matches, despite having an expected goals (xG) ratio of 3.04.

Slot stated that the final resolution was the main reason his team did not win in those two matches. He hopes that this poor record can be addressed when hosting Galatasaray.

"We had no problem creating chances. Our problem was not being effective enough after scoring the first goal," Slot said, as reported by the BBC.

He added, "The issue with scoring goals is not due to the quality of the players. We have great forwards. However, I must find a solution so that our quality players can seize opportunities and no longer waste the goal-scoring chances they receive."

Liverpool is determined to end the curse of being eliminated in the round of 16 in the last two seasons of the Champions League. Last season, their progress was halted by the champion, Paris Saint-Germain.

In another match, Newcastle United will struggle to find a way out as they face their second game at the home of Barcelona. Both teams played to a 1-1 draw in the first match at St James' Park.

Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich are already one foot in the quarter-finals. Atletico arrived at Spurs' home with an aggregate lead of 5-2. Meanwhile, Bayern is unlikely to be eliminated by Atalanta at the Allianz Arena thanks to a 6-1 victory in the first encounter.

(AFP)