Steven Gerrard slams ‘embarrassing’ and ‘pathetic’ Galatasaray after Liverpool cruise into Champions League quarter-finals

Liverpool may have lost the first leg of their Champions League tie against Galatasaray but made light work of the Turkish side on Merseyside. Slot's side put in an impressive showing to win 4-0, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah all on target. Ekitike claimed after the game that the final score "could have been 10-0" due to the hosts' dominance on a good night for Slot's side.

Gerrard also spoke about the game and wasn't happy with the actions of some Galatasaray players. He told TNT Sports: "People came here tonight wanting to see a fast paced match and they were rolling around the floor. They were an embarrassment tonight from start to finish. The performance in general was poor, pathetic really. Then you've got players rolling around. They got a couple of genuine injuries tonight, wrist injuries which you respect. As a professional you don't want to see that. But then you see people who aren't really touched and are rolling around on the floor. You get punished for it because they played five minutes at the end of the first half and you get punished even more. There were 11 minutes (in total) at the end of the game. The game could have been 11-0 or 12-0 tonight. Liverpool won at a canter. Liverpool were excellent tonight, they made Galatasaray look bang average. But I thought their performance was pathetic."

Galatasaray did see two of their players suffer serious injuries at Anfield. Striker Victor Osimhen was forced off with an arm fracture, despite trying to play through the pain barrier, and may have to undergo surgery on the injury. Substitute Noa Lang will definitely go under the knife after suffering a deep cut. 

A club statement read: "In the first half of our away match against Liverpool in the Champions League Round of 16 second leg, our player Victor Osimhen took a blow to his arm and completed the first half, but following checks at halftime, he has not played in the second half due to the risk of a fracture in his arm. After the match, under the supervision of our medical team, examinations at the hospital revealed a fracture in our player's right forearm, and it was casted. A decision regarding surgery will be made in the coming days following further evaluations. 

"In the second half of the same match, our player Noa Lang, who suffered an injury, sustained a serious cut to his right thumb, and it is planned for him to undergo surgery in Liverpool in the coming hours with the participation of our medical team."

Liverpool's victory over Galatasaray means the Reds will go on to play defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals. PSG knocked Liverpool out of the competition last season on penalties but Arne Slot thinks Luis Enrique's side won't relish a rematch. 

He told TNT Sports: "Last season against PSG we were completely outplayed away from home, we played a great game at Anfield but lost on penalties. To be fair, they haven't dropped their standards. It was hardly possible for them to improve but they've been very impressive until now. I don't think they will be that happy to play for us after seeing our performance tonight, and last season we were the only team who took them to extra-time and penalties."