Galatasaray 3-0 Liverpool: Weakened Reds outclassed by Milan Baros-inspired Turks in unhappy return to Istanbul

Premier League side Liverpool were comfortably beaten 3-0 in a friendly by Galatasaray at the Turk Telecom stadium on Thursday night.

Reds boss Kenny Dalglish took the opportunity to give many players on the fringes of his squad a chance to impress as the likes of Phillip Degen, Emiliano Insua, Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole all started.

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It was the venue for one of the Reds' most famous nights as they lifted the 2005 Champions League, but things didn’t begin well as the home side were almost ahead inside 30 seconds after Arda Turan did well to release former Liverpool man Milan Baros, but the Czech couldn’t get the ball out of his feet properly and his finish was wide of the mark.

Liverpool’s poor start was a sign of things to come as Baros made amends for his poor finish less than ten minutes later however with a low scissor-kick into the net following a good cross from for Atletico Madrid defender Tomas Ujfalusi.

The visitors really should have pulled level five minutes later when Sotirios Kyriakos headed back across goal from a free-kick and Martin Kelly found himself unmarked in the middle of the box, but the full-back showed why he isn’t a striker with as he missed the target with a dreadful finish.

The Turks doubled their lead in the 39^th minute after a Turan corner found its way to the back-post via a deflection leaving Baros the simple task of heading home from three-yards out.

The second half was much less one-sided, something that coincided with Alberto Aquilani coming on and the Italian looked in the mood as he started to dictate the tempo.

The reportedly Fiorentina-bound Aquilani almost pulled one back 15 minutes into the second period as he got on the end of a Dirk Kuyt cross after the Dutchman beat Hakan Balta but Ufuk Ceylan did well to save from close range.

The hosts eventually found their third goal of the match in the 84^th minute as former Bolton man Johann Elmander volleyed home expertly from the edge of the penalty area following some questionable Liverpool defending from their inexperienced backline.