Arne Slot believes Liverpool will benefit from their previous experience at Galatasaray’s intimidating home ground when they return to Istanbul for their UEFA Champions League round of 16 first-leg clash.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 at RAMS Park during the league stage in September, with Slot’s side having to deal with an intense atmosphere created by more than 50,000 home supporters.
The relentless whistling throughout that match made for a difficult environment, and a similar atmosphere is expected again on Tuesday evening.
However, Slot is confident his players are better prepared this time after already experiencing the noise and pressure in Istanbul.
“These fans over here are very impressive, we noticed that when we played here,” said Slot. “The good thing is we’ve experienced it already once now. That is a positive thing, though the Galatasaray players experience it every home game.
“For us it was new. When you have the ball, the whistling is so loud, so loud! That was new for me and even for all of my experienced players.
“The good thing is we’ve already experienced it but we don’t only play against the fans, (we play against) 11 very good players with a very good manager.”
Alisson Becker was ruled out after suffering a knock during open training shortly before Liverpool travelled to Turkey on Monday afternoon.
The Brazilian goalkeeper started the previous meeting with Galatasaray in September but picked up a hamstring injury in the second half that sidelined him for almost two months, with Giorgi Mamardashvili stepping in as his replacement.
Mamardashvili will again deputise in goal in Istanbul, although manager Arne Slot is optimistic that Alisson will avoid another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
“Ali was in the session but unfortunately felt something towards the end,” said Slot. “People looked at it, we decided together it was not good enough to play tomorrow and was no use of travelling.”
Of the goalkeeper’s chances of making the Premier League clash at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Slot added: “There is definitely a chance, yes, as we don’t expect it to be a big thing but it was too much to be available for tomorrow.”
Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong and Ibrahima Konaté are all expected to return to Liverpool’s starting line-up, while Federico Chiesa has not travelled with the squad.
“Federico was not in the (training) session,” explained Slot. “He felt unwell last night so did not train with us today and did not travel with us. “
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