Liverpool’s 2025-26 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal hopes is in the balance after a disappointing Round 16 first-leg outing against Galatasaray in Turkey last night, MySportDab reports.
Mario Lemina’s early goal was all Galatasaray needed to put the Premier League champions to the sword and bolster their chances of a first UEFA Champions League quarterfinal in decades.
Moreover, the Reds narrowly escaped what would have been a heavy defeat in the match as Galatasaray fell short of converting countless big chances.
The loss further underlines what has been a disappointing campaign for Liverpool this season under head coach Arne Slot despite a heavy reinforcements last summer.
Speaking after the match, Arne Slot seem to partly blame the referee for the result, especially after the latter refused to award his side a penalty when Virgil van Dijk was brought down in the box.
“In the Premier League there is much more allowed than in the Champions League. We talk about those things in the lead up to this game. That is why I was so surprised it was not a penalty.
‘’In all the incidents where (the referee) thought he saw something where we made a foul and he was so fast to give Galatasaray a free-kick, it is really surprising that the referee in the same incident when they make a foul says “OK I will accept that completely,” he said.
Despite that setback, Liverpool are still strongly in this game and will target overturning the narrow 1–0 deficit when the welcome the Turkish champions to Anfield in the second leg next week.