Champions League Player Ratings and Match Highlights

Galatasaray defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.

Alisson Becker was called into action after just two minutes. Galatasaray broke down the left flank, and Baris Alper Yilmaz showcased his blistering pace, managing to get into a one-on-one situation with the Brazilian, but he was equal to it and made a brilliant save to deny the Turk an early goal.

In the 15th minute, the hosts were awarded a penalty after Dominik Szoboszlai brought down Yilmaz inside his own box. The winger, once again, burned Szoboszlai for pace down the right wing just seconds after Cody Gakpo had a shot cleared off the line, and the Hungarian put in a challenge which you would expect from a midfielder playing at full-back, completely missing the ball and bringing down Yilmaz for a blatant penalty. Victor Osimhen stepped up to take the penalty and fired it down the middle, past Alisson, to give Galatasaray an early 1-0 lead.

In the 32nd minute, Liverpool had a flurry of chances, but they couldn’t find the back of the net. Florian Wirtz had his shot from inside the box denied by Ugurcan Cakir, who produced a good save, and from the corner which came from his save, Miloz Kerkez had a few attempts at goal during a goalmouth scramble, but couldn’t convert the ball. Shortly after that flurry of chances, Ibrahima Konate also went close with a header.

The first half came to a close with the home side in a 1-0 lead. The opening 45 minutes were very entertaining, and both sides could’ve and probably should’ve had more goals.

Just minutes into the second half, Hugo Ekitike almost scored a brilliantly improvised back heel. Jeremie Frimpong did some great work to get himself into the Galatasaray penalty area and hold off the defender, then eventually put the ball across, which found Ekitike, but his improvised attempt on goal was saved well once again by Cakir.

Shortly after Ekitike’s attempt, Liverpool were forced into their first substitution of the evening, and it was a surprising one. Alisson made way for Giorgi Mamardashvili, as straight after the Brazilian kept out another shot from Osimhen, he seemed to know his time on the pitch was up, and the Georgian replaced him.

There was drama and action late in the match, as in the 89th minute, the referee awarded Liverpool a penalty after Ibrahima Konate was brought down inside Galatasaray’s penalty area. After a very brief VAR review, the referee overturned his decision and Liverpool were not awarded the penalty.

Despite Liverpool’s late pressure, they were unable to find an equaliser, and Galatasaray took all three points with a huge 1-0 win.

Match Highlights

Galatasaray Player Ratings

GK: Ugurcan Cakir – 7.5/10

Produced some incredibly important and great saves to deny the likes of Wirtz and Ekitike. If it wasn’t for Cakir, Liverpool would’ve come away with at least a point as he put in a fantastic goalkeeping display.

RB: Wilfried Singo – 7/10

Dealt with Gakpo well and was physically imposing throughout the match, which made him hard to attack.

CB: Davinson Sanchez – 7.5/10

Didn’t have much to do with the ball at his feet, but produced plenty of important defensive actions which helped to protect his goalkeeper.

CB: Abdulkerim Bardakci – 7.5/10

Just like his centre-back partner, Sanchez, Bardakci wasn’t asked to do much in possession of the ball, but he was solid defensively and hard to break down.

LB: Ismail Jakobs – 7.5/10

Defensively solid and played with plenty of intensity down the left flank. Jakobs hardly let a thing come down his side, and his pressing and solidity were key to Galatasaray being so hard to break down.

CM: Lucas Torreira – 7.5/10

Pressed well and worked incredibly hard in the midfield. Torreira, like several other Galatasaray players, wasn’t asked to do much in possession, but his hard work and pressing were a huge asset to his side.

CM: Mario Lemina – 7/10

Defensively solid and produced some important blocks and clearances to keep Liverpool at bay.

CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 7.5/10

Completely ran the midfield at times and probably should’ve had an assist to his name as well, as he set up Yilmaz’s early chance.

RW: Yunus Akgun – 6.5/10

Threatened a few times down the right flank, but was sussed out in the second half and didn’t have as much impact as he did in the first.

ST: Victor Osimhen – 8/10 (Man of the Match)

Match-winner. Osimhen successfully converted his penalty and was a handful for the Liverpool defence to deal with all evening. Although he put in a good performance, the Nigerian definitely should’ve had more goals, as he missed several really good chances.

LW: Baris Alper Yilmaz – 8/10

Bullied Szoboszlai throughout the match and made himself extremely hard to deal with. Yilmaz’s pace was what won the battle against the Hungarian, but his physicality was key as well.

SUB: Roland Sallai – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Mauro Icardi – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Gabriel Sara – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Evren Eren Elmali – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

Liverpool Player Ratings

GK: Alisson Becker – 7.5/10

Produced two incredibly important saves, but his night was ended early after suffering an injury.

RB: Dominik Szoboszlai – 5/10

Had a torrid night against Yilmaz. Although Szoboszslai has performed well in the right-back role this season, he really struggled to deal with Yilmaz’s pace and physicality, and he ended up giving away a really sloppy penalty.

CB: Ibrahima Konate – 5.5/10

Had some really poor moments with the ball at his feet, where he continuously gave away the ball. As well as being pretty poor in possession, Konate also struggled to deal with Osimhen, and the Nigerian had plenty of chances to further Galatasaray’s lead.

CB: Virgil van Dijk – 7/10

If it wasn’t for van Dijk, Liverpool would’ve lost a lot more convincingly than they did. The Dutchman had a few shaky moments early on, but after that, he was solid and produced some important defensive actions.

LB: Milos Kerkez – 6.5/10

Pretty much completely shut down Galatasaray’s offensive threat on his flank, but didn’t really offer anything himself going forward.

CM: Ryan Gravenberch – 6/10

Safe and pretty unwilling to take risks with the ball at his feet. The Dutchman looked to struggle physically at times as well as with the intensity Galatasaray were playing with.

CM: Curtis Jones – 6.5/10

Probably the best of Liverpool’s midfield trio. Jones was almost faultless in possession of the ball, but he seemed to struggle with the pace and intensity of the game at times.

AM: Florian Wirtz – 5.5/10

A night to forget for Liverpool’s big-money signing. Physically, Wirtz really struggled, and in possession of the ball, he couldn’t find the final pass to unlock the Galatasaray defence.

RW: Jeremie Frimpong – 6/10

Saw quite a lot of the ball down the right flank, but had relatively poor end product. The only real chance Frimpong created was maybe only a half chance, which Ekitike came close to scoring.

ST: Hugo Ekitike – 6.5/10

Was a handful up front at times, especially when stretching the Galatasaray defence and utilising his pace, but the lack of good service let him down.

LW: Cody Gakpo – 6/10

Had a bright start to the match and had a shot cleared off the line, but after that, Gakpo didn’t really produce anything and was marked out of the match by Singo.

SUB: Giorgi Mamardashvili – 6/10

Didn’t have a thing to do after coming on.

SUB: Alexander Isak – 5.5/10

Hardly touched the ball despite coming on with over half an hour left to play.

SUB: Mohamed Salah – 5.5/10

Didn’t see much of the ball after coming on, and surprisingly had little impact.

SUB: Conor Bradley – 6/10

Threatened down the right flank a few times and went close to scoring a header, but outside of that, Bradley didn’t offer much.

SUB: Alexis Mac Allister – 6/10

Calmed the match down for his side after entering the pitch, but was quite sloppy on the ball at times.