Liverpool return to the scenes of arguably their greatest ever European triumph when the visit the Ataturk Stadium for the second leg of their Europa League Round of 32 match with Turkish side Besiktas tomorrow, but they’ll find the atmosphere quite a bit different from that famous night back in 2005.
If there was ever an imposing set of supporters to come up against, those of the Black Eagles certainly rank near the top with the deafening atmosphere and the impressive display of flares and pyro making it a bit more than uncomfortable for any team squaring off with them. The Reds carry a slender lead from the first leg when Mario Balotelli’s penalty broke the deadlock late in the game, but any suggestion that this tie is done and dusted is pre-mature at best.
To be honest, the job is barely half done.
Despite creating a wealth of chances during the first leg, Liverpool struggled to break down a Besiktas side that ended up having the best chances of the match with Demba Ba coming extremely close to giving the visitors a first half lead when he broke through on Simon Mignolet. The Belgian kept his head and stopped the former Chelsea man from bagging yet another goal on Merseyside, but it’ll serve as a stark warning to an ever improving Reds back-line. Now, whether the Senegalese striker will be on hand to try his luck again remains to be seen; things aren’t going so well for the Istanbul side.
The Black Eagles are going through a bit of an injury crisis heading into Thursday’s meeting. Cenk Gonen will once again stand in for first choice ‘keeper Tolga Zengin, but that won’t be boss Slaven Bilic’s only concern with Ba, who played injured in the first leg, still nursing a calf problem and attacking midfielder Gokhan Tore, who was excellent at Anfield, missing training with a problematic ankle. Had they held out for a draw on Merseyside this might not have been such a worry, but Besiktas have no choice but to take the match to Liverpool on Thursday and with their most serious attacking threats less than 100%, that could be a problem.
The Reds will give Mamadou Sakho a late fitness test before flying out to Turkey, though with a meeting with Manchester City looming large on Sunday, boss Brendan Rodgers could be considering leaving him at home and a few other players out with Champions League qualification through the league table looking a good possibility these days.
Both Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno sat out the first half of the win at Southampton on the weekend and the Liverpool boss could be tempted to leave the striker out of the starting eleven once again with Raheem Sterling back and firing. Philippe Coutinho is another player that could be handed a rest with the Brazilian, despite his thunderous shot to open the scoring, looking a bit burnt out as of late which could open up an opportunity further up the pitch for Jordon Ibe who has continued to impress since his early recall from his loan spell with Derby County.
Regardless of who runs out in Istanbul tomorrow night, they’re going to have a job on their hands. Despite their injury woes, Besiktas aren’t about to bow out of this competition without a fight. In the first leg we saw that they can cause more than a few problems, and at home in front of what’s sure to be a very intimidating home support, they’re going to be even better. The final in Warsaw is going to look an even longer ways away come kick-off…
–Steven
