"At some point, enough is enough!" Liverpool manager Arne Slot is outraged by the behaviour of the Galatasaray players

"At some point, enough is enough," the Dutchman exclaimed indignantly following the thrashing at Anfield Road, referring to what he saw as the visitors’ excessive time-wasting: "I’ve seen it far too often now: we try to build momentum, get into the game – and then someone’s lying on the ground for another half an hour."

Slot had wanted to "do something about it" and argued with the fourth official with striking frequency – but to no avail. He had been unable to achieve anything, "except perhaps running up and down the touchline like a madman". In fact, by his standards, Slot seemed almost overly animated on the touchline throughout the match, and in his view, this rubbed off on the Reds’ fans, who had booed the team as recently as the weekend following a disappointing 1-1 draw against relegation-threatened Tottenham.

“From the very first moment, when they tried to stop the momentum, our fans raised their voices even more,” Slot noted at the post-match press conference: “I think that combination was very important tonight. That’s why I was perhaps a bit more energetic than I usually am. Because we have to fight together against what we saw tonight.” 

However, by no means did every stoppage in play, during which a Galatasaray player rolled around on the ground, end without serious consequences. That, too, is part of the truth. Shortly before the final whistle, Noa Lang sustained a serious injury during a challenge with Curtis Jones, as a result of which his finger became trapped in an advertising hoarding, and he had to undergo emergency surgery whilst still in Liverpool.

Meanwhile, star striker Victor Osimhen broke his forearm in a collision with Ibrahima Konate early on, but continued to play until half-time, visibly hampered. After the break, he was replaced by international Leroy Sane.

Without Osimhen, Galatasaray, who had sensationally won the first leg 1-0, stood no chance at Anfield Road. In this regard, Slot also referred to the expected goals for both teams. He credited his players with having played an “almost perfect game”: “This performance will be almost impossible to repeat, because 5.02 xGoals on a Champions League night with only 0.18 expected goals conceded... that won’t be easy to replicate.”

Dominik Szoboszlai (25'), Hugo Ekitike (51'), Ryan Gravenberch (53') and Mohamed Salah (62') ultimately sealed Galatasaray's fate. For Salah, it was his 50th goal in the Champions League. No other African player has ever reached this milestone. The Egyptian now ranks ahead of legends such as Didier Drogba (44 goals) and Samuel Eto’o (30 goals).

Liverpool now face defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals. The Reds are keen to settle a score there, having suffered a dramatic defeat on penalties against PSG in the round of 16 last season.

“We were the only team they had to go to extra time and a penalty shoot-out against,” Slot clarified, looking ahead to the clashes with the top French club: “This team has shown this season that they haven’t lost any of their form, but we too proved tonight that we can still play at the level we showed for much of last season. This performance therefore gives us – and me – a lot of confidence."