Key events
Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk – who scored a pearler for the club in that aforementioned 3-2 win in 2006 – talks to Amazon Prime. First up, with Liverpool in town, he’s asked about a man with a foot in both camps, Graeme Souness, who you may remember doing this after the 1996 Turkish Cup final, which had been played on Gala’s Istanbul rival Fenerbahçe’s turf …
“He’s a legend … it was a golden goal in extra time … he did an amazing thing with the flag … it was very dangerous … he is one of the most important coaches in Galatastaray history … I like him very much as a coach and a person!”
Then on Buruk’s famous goal against Liverpool …
“I scored an amazing goal … by chance I shot outside the box from a corner kick … always Galatasaray has good results against Liverpool and I hope they will today again.”
And finally tonight’s team, led up front by Victor Osimhen. “First time after his injury, he played ten minutes of the Turkish league game … today he will start … he is very important for us … also Mauro Icardi is very important for us … I have two big strikers but very different types … I will start with Osimhen but continue with Mauro.”
The teams
Galatasaray: Cakir, Singo, Sanchez, Bardakci, Jakobs, Lemina, Torreira, Akgun, Gundogan, Yilmaz, Osimhen.
Subs: Guvenc, Baltaci, Sallai, Gabriel Sara, Icardi, Sane, Elmali, Kutlu, Kutucu, Ayhan, Demir, Unyay.
Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Isak, Mac Allister, Salah, Bradley, Robertson, Ngumoha.
Referee: Clement Turpin (Bourgogne).
Team news: Salah and Isak start on the bench
Liverpool make four changes to the XI that started (very poorly, it has to be said) the game at Palace last Saturday. Jeremie Frimpong comes in for Conor Bradley at right-back, Curtis Jones replaces Alexis Mac Allister in midfield, and Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak make way for Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike up front. All the players stepping aside are named as subs.
For the hosts, Victor Osimhen starts for the first time since returning from injury last weekend. Mauro Icardi is on the bench, alongside former Manchester City star Leroy Sané. Another former City favourite, İlkay Gündoğan, starts, as does erstwhile Southampton, Fulham and Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina, one-time Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira, and ex-Spurs defender Davinson Sánchez.
Galatasaray lost their opening Champions League fixture 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt; Liverpool won theirs 3-2 at home to Atletico Madrid. On the other hand, Cimbom have won all seven of their Turkish Super Lig fixtures so far, while Liverpool have just lost their first Premier League game of the season, snapping a run of five wins, at Crystal Palace. And then Galatasaray have lost only three of their last 18 home European games, winning ten and drawing five, while Liverpool have won 13 of their last 14 Champions League group/league matches. So depending on which way you turn, there’s a stat that’ll make a good case for either team winning tonight. Something’s got to give. Draw?
Preamble
The last time Liverpool played Galatasaray away, in the Champions League group stage in December 2006, they sent out a team that featured Gabriel Paletta, Danny Guthrie and Lee Peltier. They lost 3-2, Robbie Fowler with both of their consolations. To be fair, it was a dead rubber, with Rafael Benitez’s team having already won their group, the Turkish side already knocked out, and Liverpool went on to reach the final. But that did happen.
Liverpool’s only other game away at Galatasaray was also in the Champions League, in February 2002. They drew that one 1-1, Jari Litmanen setting up Emile Heskey, part of a campaign that looked highly promising until Gerard Houllier inexplicably took off Didi Hamann in the quarter-finals against Bayer Leverkusen … but that’s a topic for another day. Anyway, it all means Liverpool are still searching for their first away victory over Gala. Will that quest end tonight? We find out from 8pm UK time onwards. It’s on!
