Galatasaray host Liverpool in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday evening
Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk
Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk had urged his side to make the most of the hostile Rams Park when they clash with Liverpool in the Champions League.
The Reds arrived in Istanbul on Monday evening ahead of their round of 16 first leg against the Turkish side on Tuesday night.
Arne Slot's side were beaten 1-0 at Galatasaray during the league stage when they were greeted with a wall of noise from first minute to last by a partisan crowd.
And with a 5-2 first-leg home win over Juventus having ultimately earned their place in the knockout stages, Buruk believes Istanbul can make the difference against Liverpool.
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"The first leg is the most important one," he said. "There are big teams - 16 big teams - on the same path as us and we all have a chance to progress. Our goal is to gain the advantage in the first match against Liverpool.
"We will have no excuse at all. We are playing on home turf and will try to do our best. We have played them once and know them a bit better.
"Our opponents are very high quality. At the start of the season, they won a lot of matches with last-minute goals
"They’ve very good (at set-pieces) and have very effective Virgil van Dijk and other tall players and good finishers. We must be cautious but it’s the same against any team. We prepare for this.
"They have conceded a lot of goals and we must take advantage of that too..
"We have two matches against them and both results are important. It is important that we finish the first match in the best position possible."
Victor Osimhen scored the only goal against Liverpool in September when converting a penalty conceded by Dominik Szoboszlai.
And of the significance of that game, Buruk added: "The teams know each other.
"I think Liverpool will come into this match with a very different mindset than they did to our encounter in the league phase."