Liverpool struggled to control Galatasaray and missed a host of chances to score, while giving up plenty of opportunities at the end other in an odd display. This is what we spotted.
19:39, 10 Mar 2026Updated 19:49, 10 Mar 2026
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)
RAMS PARK, ISTANBUL // Liverpool will need to come from a goal down against Galatasaray next week at Anfield after another stuttering and disjointed performance in a difficult season.
Mario Lemina, a former Premier League player with Southampton, headed home from close range to open the scoring immediately after Liverpool missed a couple of chances to go ahead, and the rest of the first half was a wide-open contest with a plethora of mistakes.
Center-back Ibrahima Konate thought he had scrambled in a leveler in the second period, only for a VAR review to correctly rule out the goal for handball. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.
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Arne Slot record
Arne Slot had won 62 out of his 99 games in charge of Liverpool before this game. And, as the first few minutes unfolded, he must have been feeling confident of making it 63, which would have seen him overtake Sir Kenny Dalglish's record.
After those early missed chances, however, things unraveled. Liverpool looked messy and error-prone. Once again, it allowed the encounter to resemble a basketball match.
"I don't think I have a bad track record in these 100 games, although sometimes you get a different feeling about that if you listen to everything," Slot said. His team will be braced for some more criticism here, though it has a second chance next Wednesday.
Arne Slot after the Champions League game between Galatasaray and Liverpool at Rams Park on September 30, 2025.
Arne Slot after the Champions League game between Galatasaray and Liverpool at Rams Park on September 30, 2025.(Image: YAGIZ GURTUG/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Giorgi Mamardashvili impresses
Giorgi Mamardashvili had not played a competitive minute for two months but he looked sharp here when called upon a few times. It was a good job too.
It remains to be seen whether or not Alisson Becker will be back to face Spurs at the weekend but the Brazilian is not averse to missing fixtures through injury. That is why Mamardashvili — a top-class back-up to replace Caoimhin Kelleher — was bought from Valencia.
"If I don't play, I don't mind. I have to work hard every day and that's it. My time will come, for sure," Mamardashvili said before Alisson's injury.
It didn't take long for him to be proven correct, and he did well, even if he was much busier than he would have probably liked. His kicking isn't perfect but he made a couple of important stops.
Giorgi Mamardashvili of Liverpool FC looks on during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Liverpool FC and PSV Eindhoven at Anfield on November 26, 2025 in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Mamardashvili's game time has been limited(Image: DeFodi Images, DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Liverpool wide open
The problem with Joe Gomez has never been his quality; the only question mark hanging over him has been his availability. But chosen ahead of Jeremie Frimpong after a strong performance in the FA Cup, the desired stability never really arrived.
Slot's idea would have been to consolidate. A draw away from home would have been a good result, but Liverpool instead made things end-to-end and looked panicked on numerous occasions.
Ibrahima Konate and Milos Kerkez played the first half on skates and the entire game was wide open. Quite why that was the case is a mystery; with Liverpool already having experienced the intensity of the atmosphere this season, it can't have been a surprise.
Gomez was broadly fine (certainly better than either Konate or Kerkez) but the move to solidfy failed. In fairness, when Frimpong came on, he didn't do much either.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MARCH 10: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool reacts during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between Galatasaray SK and Liverpool FC at Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi on March 10, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Florian Wirtz misfires
Attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz has missed a couple of games lately and Liverpool has looked completely lacking in ideas and creativity at times as a result.
Here, the German returned and wasn't needed to create — Galatasaray did that for Liverpool — but to score. Unfortunately, he wasn't clinical enough right before the Turks took the lead.
In attack, Wirtz, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike all had chances to either net themselves or play a pass, but made the wrong call or messed it up another way. The same could be said of Dominik Szoboszlai.
It was a bad day for control and a bad day for finishing. Liverpool's forward line didn't come to the party when it should have scored at least once from the opportunities that it was gifted.
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool is challenged by Wilfried Singo of Galatasaray A.S. during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Round of 16 First Leg match between Galatasaray SK and Liverpool FC
Florian Wirtz missed a big opportunity for Liverpool against Galatasaray(Image: (Photo by Burak Kara - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images))
Anfield return set up
A draw away from home in the Champions League is always a good result. Earlier in the season, Liverpool lost 1-0 to Galatasaray and so ended things level here would have been more than acceptable.
The Turkish outfit is far from among the best sides left in the competition at this stage, though, and coming out on top, any talk of the Reds going all the way to Budapest was given something of a reality check.
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If this is how Liverpool plays against a team it should be controlling and beating, its hopes against the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are slim.
For now, though, it is close enough that there is all to play for in the second leg at Anfield next week. Clearly, it will have to do much better than this.