Last week, an in-form Liverpool that won seven of their last nine games took on a favourable side in the Champions League league phase. A Fenerbahce side with some considerable star dust on the surface. Lukaku, Kante, Guendouzi, Skriniar, Semedo and Ederson were all in the first XI, names that signal a side that has massive European ambitions. That is if it was 2019.
So, on paper, the Reds were clear favourites, but the game was in Istanbul. Liverpool started the game well, with Trey Nyoni scoring his first European goal for the club and becoming the second-youngest player to do so. However, Fener equalised only four minutes later from a heavily deflected free-kick. Alexander Isak put the Reds back in the lead in the second half, only for Archie Brown to equalise four minutes later again after a sloppy defensive header from Cody Gakpo and hesitation from Alisson to step off his line. With the game in the balance, it was giant Vedat Muriqi who towered over three Liverpool players to finally give Fenerbahce the lead and their first win of the campaign.
Liverpool leave Türkiye defeated. What, at surface level, just appears to be an off-par away performance that can be brushed away by Liverpool winning their other three UCL games this season, has instead shaped an eye-opening pattern that has been following the team for decades. Liverpool’s all-time record in Türkiye against Turkish sides is woeful: 1 win, 1 draw and 7 defeats. Normally, this stat would just tell the story of a side that doesn’t play well in a country which prides itself on the atmosphere and hostility against away sides, especially in European ties.
However, if you look at the Scousers’ relation to Türkiye outside this one exact context, it is almost funny how conflicting the picture looks: a miracle, two trophies, invincibility and modern records. Before that, let’s analyse the enigma of Liverpool FC away versus Turkish sides.
The first such meeting was 50 years ago, in 1976. A period of political and economic turmoil for the country, including heavy inflation and political violence. However, it was new champions Trabzonspor who put a smile on the 25,000 attending Turks’ faces when a poor pitch and a debatable penalty gave the Trabzon side a shock 1-0 win. A return trip at Anfield set things back to standard, backed by a standard 3-0 win with goals from Highway, Johnson and King Kev Keegan on their road to winning the club’s first European Championship later the same season.
It took a 26-year wait for the Merseyside team to play in Türkiye again, this time in 2002 against Galatasaray, past its 99/00 golden generation, in a UCL group stage match that finished 1-1. Four years later, Liverpool went back to Istanbul as European Champions (wink, wink) to play Galatasaray again. However, a 3-2 victory, including an iconic half-volley goal from Okan Buruk for Galata, left the Reds still looking for their first-ever win versus a Turkish side away from home.
The search kept going the next year, in 2007, but to no success, when Rafa Benitez’s side lost 2-1 against Besiktas. The most notable thing about this is, however, the return leg of the group stage. Revenge for the Reds is an understatement, as Besiktas fell to an unforgiving 8-0 hammering which saw five different goalscorers, a Benayoun hat-trick and Liverpool’s biggest win in modern Champions League history, which still stands today.
In 2010, Liverpool finally broke the curse and beat a Turkish team away, which might as well be the best thing Roy Hodgson has done as Liverpool manager. Dirk Kuyt left it late against Trabzonspor with an 88th-minute winner. This victory wasn’t as glamorous as some might have wanted, however, as Liverpool struggled in a tie that only had participation in the Europa League group stage at stake.
The curse break didn’t last at all. Besiktas kept the grudge after the 2007 humiliation until they met again inFebruary 2015. Things were looking worse and worse for Brendan Rodgers since missing out on the Premier League earlier the same year. A 3rd place UCL group stage finish meant a downgrade to the Europa League, and what appeared a facile mission in the Round of 32 against Besiktas, turned into nightmare material for Dejan Lovren who smashed the decisive penalty over the bar in a tie that had to be decided by penalty shootouts, concluding an early exit for the Redmen in a second European competition in the same season.
Perhaps the Turks got a clean break for a few years after, since no such side had to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. However, Arne Slot did, and in back-to-back years, the whistles and the boos of Rams Park overwhelmed the team, losing 1-0 across two different stages. Iraola didn’t escape Istanbul unscathed either, losing to Fenerbahce last week.
It is already well known that an away trip to a stadium in any Balkan country will be difficult simply because of the atmosphere. However, Liverpool’s case is simply outstanding: while they almost can’t get a whiff of a win in Türkiye, Turkish teams have never won at Anfield. For good measure, the only time the English team even conceded a goal was in 2006 against Galatasaray, not that anyone really cared, since all attention went towards Peter Crouch for scoring his legendary overhead kick that instantly turned him into a Kop cult hero.
With all in mind, to most Liverpool fans around the world, playing in Türkiye will always be special. No matter how many times they lose away from home against Galatasaray, Besiktas or Fenerbahce, Liverpool Football Club playing in Türkiye will only bring back the memories of the Miracle of Istanbul and, not to add much on this since it’s already been written about enough, the club’s greatest ever night. How could you not?
Liverpool also returned to Istanbul to play a game with the trophy on the table, the 2019 Super Cup final against Chelsea. The night ended with Henderson lifting his second trophy and Klopp going on live TV shouting ‘ADRIAN’ like Rocky after the second-choice keeper stepped in for the injured Alisson, winning the penalty shootout on his full debut.
This situation is like a karma trade; it’s like the footballing Gods are making sure everything is in balance. You win at home but can’t win away. The Turks say if you play one of ours in our backyard, you lose, but if you bring a mate over, your captain ends the evening with two hands on a trophy. The idea of a bogey team is one of the most common things in all sports, but the relationship between Liverpool and Türkiye is truly fascinating, almost like a symbiotic relationship that has been religiously followed ever since the first meeting in 1976.
Other English teams have also had their fair share of Turkish delight, the most famous one being Manchester United’s 1993 ‘Welcome to Hell’ night when the Cimbom kept the away leg goalless through pure hostility after drawing 3-3 at Old Trafford, advancing on away goals. However, the record itself is nothing like Liverpool’s: every other English team playing away in Türkiye combined has a positive outlook: 16 wins, 12 draws and 13 defeats.
So that leaves us with a fun ‘what-if’ situation. What happens if Liverpool play a European final against a Turkish team in Türkiye?
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