The Champions League lesson Liverpool must learn to unlock new way of winning | OneFootball

There was a time when Crystal Palace acquired the tag of ‘Crystanbul’; for Liverpool, anyway. A week that takes them from Crystal Palace to Istanbul is a reminder they have a monopoly on neither comebacks nor late goals. Istanbul may forever be Liverpool’s most celebrated Champions League final, the three-goal response to trailing Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan 3-0 long a part of Anfield folklore.

Some nine years later, as Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool sought to end their 24-year wait for a league title, they led 3-0 at Selhurst Park. This time, the 3-3 scoreline felt deflating. A dream died.

As Liverpool can testify now, teams who rely on the remarkable can come unstuck. Live by the late goal, die by the late goal? Logic suggests as much but, in a heady start to the season, Liverpool only benefitted from them. Even when opponents scored late on, they scored later.

Until they went to Crystal Palace on Saturday, scored in the 87th minute and conceded a 97th-minute decider to Eddie Nketiah. Arne Slot’s injury-time Invincibles were beaten in the manner they had copyrighted.

If it underlined Liverpool’s need to find a different way of winning, something more calm and controlled, that task seems still tougher now. There are few less calm and controlled places to visit than Istanbul.

Galatasaray’s former ground, the Ali Sami Yen Stadium, acquired a certain infamy. “Welcome to Hell,” their ultras declared to Manchester United in the 1990s. When United last went to Galatasaray, two seasons ago, they drew 3-3. It had a chaotic feel.

So, of course, have many of Liverpool’s matches this season. Hence the quest for something more sedate and sustainable.

Istanbul doesn’t tend to be the place to go for quiet, however. It promises to be a febrile atmosphere at the Rams Park. That could provide a test of the returning Hugo Ekitike: sent off for losing his head at Anfield in a Carabao Cup tie against Southampton, albeit with an over-exuberant celebration rather than an explosion of temper. “I think it wasn’t smart, I punished myself a lot,” the striker said. “But I apologised to everyone already. That kind of thing won’t happen again.”

open image in gallery

Eddie Nketiah condemned Liverpool to their first defeat of the season (Getty Images)

The broader challenge is for the team as a whole: to bring order. It was instructive that Slot has started to return to last season’s midfield, starting Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai as a trio at Palace and exiling Florian Wirtz to the left flank; yet it did not work, with Slot admitting Oliver Glasner’s side could have been 3-0 or 4-0 up at the interval. “We conceded so many chances against Palace,” said Slot. “That must improve.”

Last season could provide a guide in their search for solidity. Whereas Liverpool only have two clean sheets in all competitions this season, they only conceded one goal in their opening six Champions League matches under Slot. Theirs was not the most dramatic league phase, but it was the most efficient. They could do with a return to that level of order and organisation.

“Defending is only a small margin,” argued Slot. “One of our strengths last season was we kept teams away from our goal and that starts somewhere else, not defenders.” He refused to blame his new full-backs, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, noting Liverpool have already conceded four times from set-pieces.

But they have won all eight meaningful Champions League group games under Slot, losing only with a weakened team at PSV Eindhoven. It will be some feat to extend that after hosting Real Madrid and visiting Eintracht Frankfurt, Internazionale and Marseille. It is harder to say if it would be simply to extend it for another game. Galatasaray made a hideous start, losing 5-1 in Frankfurt. Both they and Turkish clubs in general have been continental underachievers for years; even when they finished ahead of United in a group two years ago, they ended up below FC Copenhagen.

open image in gallery

Virgil van Dijk provided the winner in their Champions League opener (Getty Images)

Yet there is plenty of pedigree in their side. Alexander Isak is not the only striker to break transfer records. Victor Osimhen became the most expensive signing in the history of Turkish football, at €75m. Liverpool have a past with the prolific Nigerian. Three years ago, he was their destroyer in chief when their first Champions League trip of the season brought a 4-1 evisceration at the hands of Napoli; had Osimhen not gone off injured, the damage may have been greater.

Slot is without the injured Federico Chiesa but faces an enviable choice of strikers, though Ekitike could return as his £125m teammate’s minutes are rationed. The bigger issue is in the long term. “How it works with Isak? Good question,” said Ekitike. “We play at such a big club, they cannot have only one striker, so it is good he is here.”

And yet, among all Liverpool’s dramatic late goals, only one – Ekitike’s against Southampton – has actually come from the two big-money forwards. Virgil van Dijk defeated Atletico Madrid in injury time. When Liverpool leave Istanbul, they may be still more grateful for that.