Liverpool beat Galatasaray 4-0 at Anfield to win the Champions League last-16 tie 4-1 on aggregate as Okan Buruk blamed his team’s poor performance and the stand-in referee
Pawel Raczkowski had to step in at the last minute to referee Liverpool’s game against Galatasaray(Image: Getty Images)
Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk identified the injury to Victor Osimhen as the pivotal moment in his side’s Champions League downfall at Liverpool.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with Pawel Raczkowski, who stepped in as referee after World Cup final official Szymon Marciniak sustained an injury during the warm-up.
Galatasaray’s aspirations of defending their 1-0 first leg lead from the round of 16 match in Istanbul were resoundingly quashed when they suffered a 4-0 defeat at Anfield on Wednesday. And Buruk stated: “It was perhaps one of the best games for Liverpool this season. The turning point for us from a psychological point of view was when we lost Osimhen through injury.
READ MORE: Dominik Szoboszlai says Liverpool ‘took it personally’ after Galatasaray actionsREAD MORE: Steven Gerrard reaction speaks volumes after seeing Mohamed Salah make Liverpool history“When he was on in the first half he was thinking of his arm too much during the game. Him not being 100% hurt us in the transitions and how we press high up.
“At the beginning we were a pressing team, but after the first half Liverpool had higher confidence and we had lower confidence.”
Buruk was unimpressed with substitute referee Raczkowski, reports the Liverpool Echo, and added: “We were expecting one of the best referees in the world but his replacement was one of the worst referees we have encountered.
Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk speaks to the fourth official Szymon Marciniak, who was supposed to be the on-field referee, only to get injured in the warm-up, during his side’s 4-0 defeat at Liverpool(Image: Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
“But it was a game Liverpool deserved to win and I’d like to congratulate them. They have qualified but in this game we couldn’t do exactly what we wanted.
“I thought we played very bad. But I don’t want to single out any player. When you’re 1-0 down at half-time and your keeper has just saved a penalty, our performance should have been better in the second half but it was even worse.
“Liverpool have a lot of experience and an away game here is not easy. But our away performances and home performances in the Champions League have been very different.”
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Galatasaray endured another injury setback late on when substitute Noa Lang appeared to have sustained a severe thumb injury after it became trapped between two advertising hoardings whilst he tried to keep the ball in play.
“Lang is going to hospital,” said Buruk. “He has an issue with his finger, we will know what he has at the hospital and if he needs an operation.”
“Osimhen said his arm was hurting and he wanted to get out of the game at half-time and he’s going to the hospital as well.”
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