A 1-0 defeat away to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday made it back-to-back losses in a miserable week for Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
After losing to Crystal Palace in the Premier League last weekend, a first-half penalty converted by former Napoli ace Victor Osimhen was enough to beat the Reds on a night when the English champions also lost a couple of key players to injury. This was only the second time the Dutch boss had lost two games in a row since he arrived at Anfield last week and this defeat was particularly damaging.
The Champions League 2025 betting odds favour Liverpool as one of a group of serious contenders to win the title but the Reds were anything but convincing against the Turks. The hosts came out on the attack and forward Baris Alper Yilmaz gave the visitors a huge warning when he beat Dominik Szoboszlai for pace and forced a good save out of Alisson. But Liverpool didn’t heed the warning and when the same forward beat the same defender moments later, Szobozslai caught Yilmaz with a flailing arm and the referee pointed to the spot.
Osimhen made no mistake from 12 yards and Galatasaray recorded a famous victory on their first Champions League home game for seven years.
Just to compound Liverpool’s pain, a poor defensive ball caused Alisson to stretch to make a save, meaning that he limped off immediately after. Later in the game Hugo Ekitike also limped off and he looks likely to join the keeper on the sidelines.
High Fives for Atleti, Real and Bayern
While Liverpool floundered in Turkey there were big wins for the Madrid giants and Bayern Munich as they all scored five goals on Tuesday night. Hot on the heels of Atletico’s stunning 5-2 win in the Madrid Derby, Los Rojiblancos were at it again, beating a very strong Eintracht Frankfurt side 5-1, as Antoine Griezmann scored his 200th career goal for Atleti. Julian Alvarez, who was the architect of Atletico’s win over Los Blancos, put in another superb performance as he scored one goal and made two assists.
Giacomo Raspadori opened the scoring on five minutes and centre back Robin Le Normand doubled the Spaniards’ lead knocking in a rebound from a Griezmann effort; before the Frenchman made it three. Jonathan Burkhardt pulled one back for the Eagles but late goals from Giuliano Simemone and Alvarez completed the rout.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid recovered from their mauling in the derby to win 5-0 away to Kazakh side Kairat Almaty. Kylian Mbappe continued his great form as he scored a hat-trick and Los Blancos swept their hosts aside as substitutes Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Diaz both added to the score line.
And another red-hot striker was on form on Tuesday as Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored a brace in the Bavarians’ 5-1 thumping of Cyprus minnows Pafos. Remarkably the two goals moved the England striker to 20 goals in 11 matches for club and country this season, as Raphael Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Michael Olise all got in on the act.
Kane is once again storming the race for the Bundesliga Golden Boot, already on ten goals and five clear of the pack, though team-mate Olise has had more shots than the centre forward at 23 to 17, while summer arrival Luis Diaz has taken 17 shots too. This is a team which loves to attack.
Martinez leads by example
Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez was on target when I Nerazzurri won at the weekend and, after the game, said he is always happy to score when his team wins. Well, the Argentine hitman was smiling again on Tuesday after he scored twice in a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague. Martinez got the ball rolling when making the most of some slack Slavia defending and Denzil Dumfries doubled the lead when he met a cross from Marcus Thuram. Martinez rounded off another good night for Inter when he side-footed home after a brilliant team move.
I Nerazzurri have made a patchy start to the campaign but are starting to click as their captain hits top form.
In other Champions League 2025 news there were wins on Tuesday for Olympique Marseille, 4-0 over Ajax, Chelsea and Atalanta, while Spurs drew away to Bodo Glimt.
The action continues on Wednesday night when the outstanding match is Barcelona versus holders Paris Saint-Germain and, as my SBOTOP colleague James says: “That would be a fitting final.”
But Atletico, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern will all have something to say about that on this evidence.
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