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Liverpool’s Turkey story: Once memorable, many times miserable
Defeat at Fenerbahce means the six-time European champions have not won away against Turkish teams since 2010
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And then, there were three. All the goals Liverpool conceded at Fenerbahce came from set pieces. The 3-2 win was Fenerbahce’s first in the Champions League this term and Liverpool’s only defeat after four matches.
Saying that Liverpool’s old problems have resurfaced could mean getting ahead of ourselves. After leaking a Premier League joint-highest of 19 goals from restart moves in 2025-26, Liverpool have conceded none this time around. So, Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola was right when he said Liverpool had been dealing well with those situations.
Till they didn’t. Jeremy Jacquet turned inwards and Mason Greenwood’s 29th-minute free-kick ricocheted off the Liverpool defender, wrong-footing Alisson, who was seen screaming even as he fell. That was unusual because Jacquet has blocked 11 shots in the league, the most by any Liverpool player. Four minutes after Trey Nyoni scored his first goal for Liverpool, the 19-year-old’s volley from range also took a deflection just enough to beat Ederson, and Fenerbahce were back in the tie.
It wouldn’t be the only time Liverpool’s inability to protect their lead for no more than four minutes would hurt them. Alexander Isak didn’t start possibly because Iraola wanted to manage his workload but with the Bradley Barcola experiment as No.9 not working, the Sweden international was brought on in the 65th minute. He didn’t have to wait long to make an impact, peeling away to knock home Cody Gakpo’s delivery in the 69th minute. Only for disaster to strike again for the visiting team.
If ever there was a goal scored by the stadium, this was it. The Sükrü Saracoğlu Stadium is in the Asian part of Istanbul, some 40km from where Liverpool made one of the Champions League’s most famous comebacks in 2005. Turkish football grounds are known to be some of the noisiest in Europe and Fenerbahce fans lived up to that billing on Wednesday. It was almost impossible to communicate, said Iraola. That kind of explains why Gakpo headed backwards and Alisson didn’t claim the loping pass played by N’Golo Kante following a corner-kick taken short. Archie Brown’s tap-in got the cauldron bouncing again.
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Another hopeful ball into the box became an assist in the 79th minute, Brown was the provider this time. Jacquet, Alexis Mac Allister and Nyoni failed to jump, Vedat Muriqi did and met the ball by stretching his neck. “I think we have to mark better if we want to win games,” said Kostas Tsimikas, the Liverpool full back, and one of the five changes from the side that lost 0-1 to Arsenal on Sunday. Cheap goals, messy goals, said Iraola.
They had gone to Istanbul without managing an attempt on target against Arsenal, a first at home for Liverpool in 412 matches. Mac Allister’s header and a free kick from Florian Wirtz that banged into the framework were the closest Liverpool had come to breaching David Raya’s goal. Liverpool were unlucky that Isak didn’t get a penalty against Arsenal but it was also a measure of how grievances at refereeing decisions tend to even out that when Tsimikas felled Greenwood, referee Clement Turpin didn’t point to the spot much to the indignation of the home crowd.
There was more to Liverpool’s frailty than defending set-pieces. Fenerbahce kept getting behind the defence and for most of the night, Liverpool failed to match the intensity of their opponents comprising former Premier League players. Ederson, Nelson Semedo, Matteo Guendozi, Greenwood, Romelu Lukaku and Kante started for the home team, managed in the interim by Dirk Kuyt. Brown hasn’t played in the Premier League but was born in Birmingham.
Fenerbahce also have Nathan Ake on their roster. Ake didn’t play because of injury but the former Manchester City defender had started against Aston Villa. Fenerbahce had lost 0-6 away then but this was different. Kuyt called it a miracle.
“We told each other to stick together, to be united, to keep believing in ourselves. That is something I learnt from another club that means a lot to me – Liverpool,” said Kuyt who spent six seasons at Liverpool.
The home team’s aggression and intensity showed from the off when a long ball was intercepted by Ismail Yuksek. Three players then converged on Mac Allister. Turpin blew for a foul but it was an early indication of how the night would be. One that had Kojo Peprah Oppong putting his body between the ball and Barcola, by then moved out to the right, in the 89th minute. Moments later Virgil van Dijk went over. On a night Como scored nine from 11 attempts, it showed that Liverpool need to do a lot of work in both penalty boxes.
It also meant that the 2-1 victory at Trabzonspor in August 2010 remains Liverpool’s last win away against a Turkish club. Since then they have played seven. It is a blip in a proud club’s record, one that sits alongside six Champions league titles including the miracle in Istanbul.
