Why Liverpool’s Istanbul Collapse Feels Painfully Familiar

There is a version of this result that Liverpool fans have watched play out too many times now to pretend it is a coincidence. Twice in Istanbul, Andoni Iraola’s side had the lead. Twice they gave it back. By the time Fenerbahce had completed a 3-2 turnaround, with former Red Dirk Kuyt watching from the home dugout, the story of the night was not really about missed chances going forward. It was about the same soft center that keeps turning promising European nights into damage limitation exercises.

A Night That Promised More Than It Delivered

Iraola made five changes after the midweek setback against Arsenal, and for a while the gamble looked shrewd. Trey Nyoni, given a rare run out, found the net for his first senior goal in a Liverpool shirt, a moment that should have been the headline of the evening on its own merits. Instead it lasted barely four minutes before Mason Greenwood’s deflected free kick squared things up, the first sign that Liverpool’s back line was going to have a difficult night dealing with set pieces and second balls.

The response after the break was encouraging on the surface. Alexander Isak, introduced alongside Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz as Iraola rang the changes again, needed only three minutes to make an impact, heading home a Gakpo cross to restore the lead. For a spell, it looked like the substitutions had rescued the game.

The Same Soft Underbelly

What followed is the part that will worry Iraola far more than anything his attack produced. A poorly defended corner let Greenwood’s strike partner level things up, and six minutes later an unchallenged ball into the box allowed Vedat Muriqi a free header to put Fenerbahce 3-2 up. Two goals, two set pieces, two moments where Liverpool simply did not deal with the basics of defending their own box. That is not bad luck. That is a pattern, and it is one that has followed this team through multiple European nights this season.

Liverpool’s wider record in Turkiye adds unwelcome context. Their only win there inside normal time came under Roy Hodgson, a fact that says plenty about how uncomfortable these away trips have historically been, regardless of who has been picking the team.

What Iraola Needs To Fix

There will be questions too about Bradley Barcola’s night through the middle, which never came close to matching the impact Isak had in a fraction of the minutes, and Iraola may look again at how he balances his attacking options from the start rather than leaning on substitutions to change games. But the bigger issue remains defensive. Liverpool have the attacking quality to come from behind against most sides in Europe. What they do not yet have is the concentration to protect a lead once they have it, and until that changes, nights like this one in Istanbul will keep repeating themselves.