Galatasaray Edge Liverpool 1-0 in UCL Round-of-16 First Leg

Galatasaray celebrates Mario Lemina goal

Galatasaray edge Liverpool 1-0 in a thrilling UCL round-of-16 first leg, with Mario Lemina scoring the crucial goal. The Turkish side take a narrow lead to Anfield for the return leg.

Galatasaray take a narrow 1-0 lead to Anfield after a thrilling UCL round-of-16 first leg win over Liverpool, thanks to Mario Lemina's early goal...

Galatasaray stunned Liverpool 1-0 in a frenetic UCL round-of-16 first leg, taking a narrow lead to Anfield. The Turkish side's second win over Liverpool this season, they capitalized on their chances in a charged atmosphere at Rams Park.

Liverpool dominated early on, trying to silence the home crowd, but Galatasaray's resilience paid off. 

Osimhen blew a chance to double Galatasaray's lead, his header flying agonizingly wide. The game settled into a decent rhythm, with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike causing problems for the hosts.

Galatasaray, though, created the best chances; Mamardashvili needed to produce a flying save to thwart Davinson Sanchez, Osimhen skied another chance when unmarked, and some backs-against-the-wall defending from the visitors kept the likes of Noa Lang and Gabriel Sara at bay in an all-action first half.

The end-to-end nature of the game continued up until the interval, yet there were surprisingly no more goals.

Liverpool pushed hard after the restart, with Alexis Mac Allister narrowly missing an equalizer. Despite dominating possession, the Reds remained vulnerable to Galatasaray's swift counters, and Abdulkerim Bardakci reminded them of the Turkish side's threat.

Salah, meanwhile, was hooked on the hour after a disappointing individual performance, before Osimhen saw a goal ruled out for offside, with Ibrahima Konate nearly made to pay for an underhit backpass.

Ekitike then missed a one-on-one when Ugurcan Cakir stuck out a leg to divert the ball wide prior to Liverpool having a goal disallowed for a Konate handball.

A frantic last 10 minutes failed to produce any further strikes, meaning Galatasaray held on to claim a potentially crucial triumph.

Galatasaray beat Liverpool in Istanbul 🟡🔴#UCL pic.twitter.com/gKuOZvrhQT

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 10, 2026

As a result, they have now lost just two of their last 47 home matches in all competitions (W34, D11), while they are also unbeaten in their last 11 home European Cup/UCL knockout matches (W7, D4).

Liverpool's three-game away winning streak ends, but they'll head to Anfield next week confident they can turn the tie around. With just a 1-0 deficit, the Reds will be focused on securing the win at home.

Galatasaray shocked Liverpool with an early goal, Mario Lemina nodding home from a Victor Osimhen flick-on after just 7 minutes. The Turkish side took control, leaving Liverpool on the back foot.