Reds Exit Europa After Shootout Loss

After securing a narrow first leg advantage thanks to Mario Balotelli's late penalty at Anfield, Liverpool made the trip to Turkey for the return leg against Besiktas which saw them re-visit the Ataturk Stadium which staged the famous 2005 Champions League final comeback as they secured a fifth European Cup title.

Thoughts of such a repeat on Thursday night were far from the even the wildest imagination but with a Liverpool travelling party lacking the strength of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Mamadou Sakho, Lucas Leiva, Philippe Coutinho, Glen Johnson and Lazar Markovic, the Reds knew their task would not be easy.

The absentees meant a starting eleven featuring Mario Balotelli and Daniel Sturridge up front and Kolo Toure and Alberto Moreno in defence while Academy duo Cameron Brannagan and Jordan Williams were named on the bench. The match began with a roaring atmosphere from both sets of fans with the hosts making an aggressive start with some tasty challenges.

The first chance of the game came in the 20th minute with Moreno collecting a pass from Balotelli on the wing before picking out Raheem Sterling who hit for goal only to see his effort parried by Cenk Gonen. The threat from the Reds began to grow and the next chance came from Sterling who saw a turning shot blocked by Necip Uysal.

Daniel Sturridge forced a strong save from Gonen after fellow striker partner Balotelli had picked him out before Moreno hit a close range effort which Gonen took with ease. Besiktas responded with a pacy run from Olcay Sahan raising the noise level only to be denied by Simon Mignolet. The tie reached halfway meaning Liverpool had just 45 minutes left to hold on to their narrow lead from the previous leg.

Buoyed by the fact that they had to score to extend the tie, Besiktas began the second half with clear intent with Serdar Kurtulus and Jose Sosa both trying their luck early on but both could only find the arms of Simon Mignolet.  The threat from the hosts continued to grow and they came close to levelling through Arslan whose effort narrowly missed the post.

 

However, the effort was a preview of things to come as Arslan tried his luck again in the 72nd minute with a superb chance which sailed past Mignolet and levelled the tie by giving the hosts the lead on the night. Liverpool's response saw Javier Manquillo and Adam Lallana replace Jordon Ibe and Mario Balotelli but Besiktas continued to threaten and when Ba connected to a forward pass he clipped a volley which cannoned back off the crossbar.

The former Chelsea striker's effort proved to be the last notable one of the 90 minutes which meant the tie went into extra time which saw Daniel Opare, Tore and Ba himself all pepper Mignolet's goal but with no success which meant a penalty shootout.

Just under ten years ago, it was Jerzy Dudek who was the hero for the Reds so the mantle fell to Simon Mignolet to keep Besiktas out and send the Reds into the next round, Demba Ba beat him with the opener with Rickie Lambert responding for Liverpool. Tore and Lallana matched their predecessors as did Veli Kavlak and Emre Can. Atiba Hutchinson and Joe Allen's spot-kicks made it 4-4 meaning Arslan had the chance to pile pressure on the final Reds taker which he did with a clever penalty for 5-4.

 

Dejan Lovren stepped up for Liverpool with huge pressure on his shoulders and it seemed to prevail as he blasted the ball wide of the target meaning the Reds exited the competition and ended their European season with just two wins from eight games.