Liverpool came into the second leg of their Round of 16 tie against Galatasaray down a goal and fresh off a disheartening late collapse and more unnecessary dropped points against Tottenham in the league over the weekend. They end it dominant 4-0 winners on the night to take the tie 4-1 on aggregate and now face Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter finals. Let’s dig straight into it…
Winners and Losers
Dominik Szoboszlai Does It Again What even is there left to say about Liverpool’s one consistent performer this season?
He scored the first here, charing in unmarked from his deep spot on a corner and sending the ball into the bottom corner.
Fans Of Attacking Football
Liverpool dialled up the press, showed a willingness to play the odd risky pass in the final third, and even got a little chippy with Galatasaray when the occasion called for it. In short, they did all the things fans have been begging to see for months. And they were rewarded for their efforts on the scoreboard—and with the backing of the crowd. More of that the rest of the way, please, lads. I’m begging you. More of that.
Mo Salah’s Finishing Boots
Any direction you want to come at it from or any reasons you want to ascribe it to doesn’t change the fact that it’s been a very, very tough season for Mohamed Salah. Particularly in front of goal. And while Liverpool got the win they desperately needed here, Salah’s finishing stood out for all the wrong reasons—at least in the first half. In any previous season, the Egyptian legend would have had a pair before the break.
First, Galatasaray gifted him the goal in space on the edge of the penalty area. The goalkeeper did well to charge out and limit the angle, making himself big to get a hand on the ball, but Salah really needed to do better. Then, to end the half, there was another gift. This time it was a penalty as Dominik Szoboszlai was hacked down near the edge of the area heading away from goal. As a result, Salah stepped up to spot and… sent a weak effort closer to the middle of the goal than the side netting, allowing Fernando Muslera to again get a hand on it.
Fortunately, as later seen on Liverpool’s second goal of the night where he played in Hugo Ekitike to put the Reds ahead on aggregate, his passing boots still work. He was also involved in the third to mostly seal the tie. As much as it does hurt to see him miss so many of what in the past would have been automatic goals, it was good to see him rebound from those misses to still play a key role in the victory.
And then, wouldn’t you know it, Salah rolled back the years to play a slick one-two on the edge of the box with Florian Wirtz, cut inside, and curl it top bins for Liverpool’s fourth on the night and to make it 4-1 on aggregate. Tie fully sealed.
Talking Tactics
Galatasaray started the evening camping deep in defence and wasting time to a frankly embarrassing degree, the Turkish visitors going to ground any time a Liverpool player dared to look in their general direction. For most of the first half it seemed as though their entire game plan was to set a deep block and try to hold on to their 1-0 first leg advantage through the entire 90 minutes.
From a Liverpool point of view this was obviously a massively promising way to start. Not only did it allow the Reds to probe at will and create a handful of decent half-chances, it also helping fire up an Anfield crowd when there had been legitimate questions heading into the match about quite what mood everyone might be in after the weekend’s disappointing showing against Tottenham.
Liverpool fans have spent the season grumbling about their side’s tendency to set up conservatively, often looking like trying limit opposition chances was more important than scoring their own. Tonight, the roles were reversed—and it was yet another example of how, to steal a famous phrase from another flavour of football, the only thing the prevent defence does is prevent you from winning.
Dissecting the Narrative
Are Liverpool good again? Well, probably nobody’s going to jump straight to that narrative, even if they put up a lopsided scoreline. And on that front, it really wouldn’t have felt entirely harsh to Galatasaray towards the end if the scoreline had been doubled (at the very least it should really have been five with a late would-have-been fifth goal from Alexis Mac Allister perplexingly ruled out) such was Liverpool’s dominance in the second half in particular thanks to their high-energy attacking display.
This, though, was vintage. This was the Liverpool side everyone has wanted to see all season. They have had the odd impressive one-off before now in the 2025-26 season, though. So. This time, can they keep it up? This time, is it for real?
What Happens Next
Brighton. Saturday. Do it again, Liverpool.
