Liverpool player ratings vs Galatasaray: 4 for record-breaker Salah and Konaté, Ekitike earns 7 | OneFootball

It was a return to the Rams Park to forget as Liverpool suffered yet another 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash, which saw Ibrahima Konaté’s late equalizer ruled out for handball.

Mario Lemina got the hosts up and running with a bullet header to stun the defending Premier League champions, after they had made a decent start, and couldn’t carve out enough chances to make up for their profligacy in front of goal.

With Konaté almost going from zero to hero, playing a poor backpass that led to Victor Oshimhen’s disallowed opener before thinking he’d levelled up the game, FromTheSpot rates the Reds’ performances in a frustrating encounter.

Liverpool player ratings v Galatasaray

Giorgi Mamardashvili – 6/10

While the Georgian was powerless to keep out Lemina’s header, Liverpool might have been worse off without his three saves, most notably keeping out Noah Lang’s cross as it looped towards goal dangerously. Indeed, he prevented 0.79 goals in Istanbul.

Eyes will instead be looking towards the defending and all-round communication in front of him after his side’s defeat this evening.

Joe Gomez – 5/10

A far from ideal night for Joe Gomez, with the Englishman struggling to keep up with the likes of Noah Lang on the left wing. He caused plenty of issues for the right full-back to deal with, but caused doubt inside the hosts’ penalty area with a series of long throws.

Ibrahima Konaté – 4/10

Let’s be honest, if his equalizer hadn’t of been ruled out then his rating would look a lot more favourable than it does.

The Frenchman looked uncertain alongside his centre-back colleague for most of the evening, and opened the door for Galatasaray to put the ball on a silver plate for Oshimhen to tap in with a very poor backpass and then an attempted backheel to clear the ball.

He will feel hard done by that the goal didn’t stand, much like the travelling support will, but rules are rules. After VAR spotted the final touch sending the ball off the line being via Konaté’s arm, the referee was left without much choice.

Don’t be mistaken by his display, Konaté represents a great option at centre-back for Arne Slot. But he has a few mistakes in him too, ones that he’s yet to remove from his game.

Virgil van Dijk – 4/10

It seems fair to award the Liverpool skipper the same score, who too was unable to contain the Turkish side and was unable to orchestrate his backline effectively. The moment he accidently ran into Alexis Mac Allister and almost let the hosts in just summed it up.

Milos Kerkez – 4/10

The left-back only survived an hour before being replaced by Scotland international Andy Robertson, who himself is trying to make a case that he should start instead of the Hungarian on a regular basis.

Tonight won’t exactly help the attacking-minded Kerkez, who had little say on the game going forward.

Alexis Mac Allister – 5/10

Involved in arguably Liverpool’s best move of the game, Alexis Mac Allister was one of the Reds’ standout performers – however uncharacteristically low that may be for the Reds tonight.

He was their main creative outlet, producing one big chance that his side couldn’t convert. Much the story of the clash overall.

Ryan Gravenberch – 4/10

A very quiet night for the Dutchman, whose one shot and key pass isn’t enough to merit the same rating as his midfield partner.

Florian Wirtz – 5/10

Florian Wirtz was also quite emblematic of Liverpool’s main issue tonight, their inability to convert chances.

The German found himself in very promising positions, none less than when he peeled from the back post into the penalty area but could only force a decent save from the goalkeeper, teed up by Mac Allister.

Dominik Szoboszlai – 5/10

He too will feel like his corner should have proven to be the assist for Konaté’s leveller, perfectly placed for Liverpool to direct it on target, and threatening from range a few times. But again, there was simply no way through.

Mo Salah – 4/10

I’m sure that this game went much better in Mo Salah’s head, undoubtedly with the milestone of reaching a record 81 UCL games for Liverpool, one more than Jamie Carragher’s 80 in a red shirt on Europe’s ultimate club competition.

He too was quiet by the standards he has set for himself in past seasons, albeit being much tidier with his passing than some of his teammates.

Many have pointed out the ‘Egyptian King’ hasn’t quite been at the races all season, and will need to step up his game in the final third in the second leg at Anfield and ensure his achievement isn’t overshadowed by an exit at the round of 16 stage.

Hugo Ekitike – 7/10

Arguably Liverpool’s best performer all evening, his dribbling and hold-up play had a helping hand in his team’s best opportunities to peg back Galatasaray, but he will be frustrated to have been denied by a brilliant save from the in-form Uğurcan Çakır.

That was one of the two shots he mustered on goal, returning an expected goals of 0.42, with five of his eight attempted carries with the ball being successful and carrying his team forward.