Slot makes ‘difficult’ Galatasaray admission as Liverpool lose again

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·10 marzo 2026

Slot makes ‘difficult’ Galatasaray admission as Liverpool lose again

Arne Slot admitted that the atmosphere created by the Galatasaray fans made it “difficult” for Liverpool as his side lost in Istanbul for the second time this season.

The Reds fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their last-16 clash with the Turkish outfit in the UEFA Champions League, just as they did in the league phase in September.

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Mario Lemina scored the only goal of the game after just six minutes when he nodded the ball in from a corner. Osimhen thought he had doubled their lead on the hour mark but Baris Yilmaz was bizarrely ruled offside in the buildup. Liverpool then thought they had equalised, but Ibrahima Konate handled the ball into the net.

Arne Slot: Galatasaray atmosphere made it difficult for Liverpool

“There were a lot of similarities between three months ago and now,” Slot told Uefa after the full-time whistle.

“We had multiple chances to score. After 10-15 minutes you expect us to lead and then their first attack leads to a set-piece goal. Last time it was a penalty. And another disallowed goal from us, so a lot of similarities.”

Liverpool now need to win by one goal to avoid elimination in 90 minutes at Anfield when the two sides meet for the second leg at Anfield next Wednesday. Slot hopes home advantage will help them turn the tie around.

“You play two games against each other and now it’s half-time, they’re 1-0 up,” he said. “We can do better, I’m 100 per cent sure about that. But even with the game we’ve just played, we had enough chances to score goals.

“We didn’t but next week we play at Anfield and our fans will be so supportive for us. I think that was today the situation for Galatasaray. They had great support from their fans, it was difficult for us to play in.

“Let’s hope we can create the same atmosphere next week at Anfield.”

Read – Five players who played for both Galatasaray and Liverpool