TNT Sports commentator and ex-Liverpool star Steve McManaman says one Red really wasn't at the races in their 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray.
Liverpool slump to 1-0 Galatasaray loss after underwhelming display
For the second time this season, Liverpool left Istanbul with nothing.
The same ground, the same scoreline, the same sinking feeling.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Galatasaray's Rams Park swallowed Arne Slot's side whole this evening, delivering a 1-0 Champions League first-leg defeat that leaves the Reds with a deficit to overturn at Anfield next week — and some serious defensive questions to answer before they get there.
Mario Lemina was the man who did the damage, heading home from close range as early as the seventh minute after Victor Osimhen flicked on a corner to the far post.
It was a desperately familiar way for Liverpool to concede — another set piece, another failure to deal with a delivery into the box, another moment of collective sloppiness from a defence that has been punished in this exact manner far too often.
Slot had spoken in his pre-match briefing about being aware of the threats Galatasaray posed in transition and from dead-ball situations. His side showed little of that awareness once the game began.
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Osimhen, back in the ground where he tormented Liverpool in September, was a constant menace throughout the 90 minutes.
He had a legitimate-looking goal ruled out for a tight offside call in the second half — VAR deeming Aydin Yilmaz to have been interfering with play despite not touching the ball — a call that prompted fury in the stands and some relief from the travelling support.
Baris Alper Yilmaz and Noa Lang offered relentless running either side of him, and Galatasaray could quite easily have been two or three ahead by the time the final whistle arrived.
Liverpool did threaten. Hugo Ekitike squandered a one-on-one with Ugurcan Cakir in the second half, the Turkish goalkeeper rushing off his line and making himself big to deny the French forward when a goal felt inevitable.
Florian Wirtz, on his first start since mid-February, had two attempts that failed to trouble Cakir seriously. Alexis Mac Allister also curled narrowly wide from a promising position.
Ibrahima Konate for Liverpool
There was enough to suggest Anfield could still be the scene of a turnaround — but the manner of the performance left the Reds' travelling supporters underwhelmed rather than inspired.
The moment that will dominate the post-match discussion, aside from the goal itself, came through Ibrahima Konaté.
The centre-back, who is poised to leave this summer as things stand, endured a torrid evening against Osimhen's physicality and directness, and had several moments that will make painful viewing when Slot reviews the footage.
In the 29th minute, a seemingly routine cross from the right found Konaté hopelessly wrong-footed, the ball running through him entirely unmissed and falling straight to Osimhen, who somehow blazed over when a second goal looked certain.
Later, a Liverpool corner appeared to squirm over the line after Cakir failed to deal with it cleanly, only for VAR to rule that Konaté had handled as the ball went in — the correct call, but one that ended Liverpool's best chance of a precious away goal.
Steve McManaman says Ibrahima Konate had a night to forget for Liverpool
Speaking on TNT Sports at full-time, former Liverpool winger McManaman was blunt in his assessment of the centre-back's evening.
The pundit said Konaté was "at sixes and sevens" and that it had been a "night to forget" for the defender.
Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate in action with Wolverhampton Wanderers' Adam Armstrong
The criticism was hard to argue with.
Konaté has been criticised on more than one occasion for Liverpool this term, despite his obvious quality when playing at full throttle, and in Istanbul he really struggled to deal with Osimhen.
All is not lost, though.
Anfield, with its full-blooded European atmosphere and Galatasaray missing the suspended Davinson Sanchez for the return, remains a genuine opportunity.
However, Liverpool will need to be considerably better than this — and Konaté, in particular, will need to rediscover his best for the second leg.
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