Besiktas v. Liverpool (Photo : Reuters)
Yesterday Liverpool faced Turkish side Besiktas at Istanbul's Ataturk stadium. The last significant occasion that Liverpool had played here was in the finals of the 2005 Champions League, when they beat AC Milan to lift the European title.
But this time around the occasion was clearly not as significant as the one in 2005. Yesterday, Liverpool were only fighting Besiktas for a place in the last 16 of the Europa League, a competition they became entitled to compete in by virtue of their top 4 finish in the Barclays (English) Premier League (EPL) last year.
Yesterday, Liverpool lost the match on penalties to Besiktas. At the end of the scheduled 90 minutes of play, because the match was even and undecided, the thirty minute extra time was played. The match remained undecided even at the end of this thirty minute extra time. Hence a penalty shootout became inevitable.
Liverpool sent Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Joe Allen and Dejan Lovren as the 5 penalty kick takers. Lambert, Lallana, Can and Allen all managed to score but Lovren missed his penalty. For Besiktas all 5 penalty takers successfully scored their goals.
And Liverpool had lost to Besiktas.
Liverpool's game even during the main segment of the game (the first 90 minutes) was not impressive at al. They failed to create enough chances and the few that they did create they were unable to turn into goals. One factor affecting this was that Philippe Coutinho, one of their main playmakers, was rested for this match.
This ends Liverpool's journey in the Europa League for this year. They are now left with what they can make for themselves in remainder of the EPL. The big question is though: will they even be able to give themselves a top four finish in the EPL this year?
Liverpool's form in recent months has been very disappointing. This after the spectacular season they enjoyed last year (when Luis Suarez - and his teeth - were in sublime form) and they missed becoming the EPL champions by a whisker.
