In the first leg of their Champions Leagueround of 16 tie, Liverpool travelled away to Galatasaray. Arne Slot’s men were poor on the night, though, losing 1-0 in Turkey.
The two teams actually met in September, with Victor Osimhen’s 16th-minute penalty the only thing to seperate the teams. The Reds would only lose twice in the league phase, finishing second. While the team from Turkey came 20th and made it to the last 16 by beating Juventus over two legs in the playoffs.
Playing once more at the Rams Park in Istanbul, the home team looked very shaky in the opening moments but then took the lead after just seven minutes. Liverpool failed to deal with a corner, as Mario Lemina headed home from close range.
Both teams then had goals controversially ruled out in the second half, with Osimhen’s effort pulled up for offside, and Ibrahima Konate said to have handled the ball before the ball crosses the line for Liverpool. In the end, Lemina’s first-half effort was enough to see the first leg end 1-0.
Florian Wirtz Struggles vs Galatasaray
It was a particularly hard day for Florian Wirtz, who had multiple openings in the opening stages of the match but failed to take his chances. He was then made to pay for his lack of composure, with Lemina’s goal coming shortly after.
His poor finishing was summed up as he had three shots, failing to score, and missing one big chance. He was hooked after 72 minutes, having completed only 71 % of his 28 attempted passes. while he also lost the ball 14 times. His 6.3 SofaScore rating was the worst of any player on the pitch.
Having started on the left wing, Slot may well think about moving the German into a more central area for the second leg. It remains to be seen if Witz will even be trusted to start that game after his poor showing in Turkey.
Liverpool Fans Tear Into Wirtz
Coming down hard on the German, one fan wrote:
“I know every Liverpool fan has been feeling this deep down. Wirtz is the biggest waste of money ever. There’s no other way to put it. There’s no conviction in his game whatsoever.
One more added: “Wirtz is not good enough for Liverpool, the whole midfield needs ripping out, oh I forgot we gave one of them 280k week until 2031.”
A third said: “Wirtz in these typa games…. Shocking.” A fourth wrote: “Florian Wirtz hooked. Ineffective yet again.” Another said: “Well that was terrible, I think every Liverpool player has been woeful bar the keeper. Wirtz looks like he hasn’t kicked a ball in a year.”
More insuults came after he was subbed off, with someone saying: Florian wirtz DRAGGED off Awful player.” Another called it: Wirtz’s worst game in a red shirt.”
A final fan summed up the mood, saying: “Wirtz is a disgrace.”