Liverpool - 0, Galatasaray - 0: Liverpool's Champions League aspirations suffered an evening of near misses and missed chances against a skilful, stubborn Galatasaray side here last night. Equally disturbing, for club and country, was the sight of Steven Gerrard leaving on a stretcher with a groin injury after reaching for the ball 20 minutes from the end.
Although Galatasaray had drawn 2-2 with Barcelona at Nou Camp, and this after leading 2-0, they did not look quite the team that had surprised Manchester United in the Champions League's early days. But appearances can be deceptive and, in any case, Liverpool are not yet the sort of side that won the European Cup four times between 1977 and 1984.
To stand a realistic chance of reaching the quarter-finals this time, moreover, they needed to beat Galatasaray last night and in Istanbul on next Tuesday. With Barcelona's 3-1 win at Anfield in November still weighing heavily in the equation this was not the time for another slip up at home.
Certainly they moved forward from the outset with a strong sense of collective will, Dietmar Hamann driving the ball low past a post from 30 yards after John Arne Riise had tapped him a free-kick. Yet the ease with which Liverpool began to dominate two-thirds of the pitch was deceptive since their opponents were prepared to surrender the midfield in order to pack their defence.
Not that Galatasaray had come merely to contain Liverpool. In breaking forward they had Bulent Akin and Berkant Goktan linking cleverly with Umit Karan, who forced Chris Kirkland, deputising in goal for the injured Jerzy Dudek, to push wide a snapshot just before the quarter-hour.
For Liverpool much, as ever, depended on how frequently Steven Gerrard and Hamann were able to get upfield to support Emile Heskey and Michael Owen. But against a retreating defence it was all too easy to run into cul-de-sacs and Liverpool needed a while to achieve any accuracy with their crosses or final passes.
By the half-hour, Anfield was becoming frustrated and not merely with Galatasaray's tendency to writhe in agony at the slightest touch. Liverpool were struggling to keep decent possession and continued to look vulnerable to opposition counterattacks.
In the 31st minute, one of Riise's left-footed thunderbolts looked certain to give Liverpool the lead until Ali Mondragon flung himself high to his left to deflect the ball wide. Galatasaray's response was to start going down in pairs, the Portuguese referee refusing to stop play with Berkant and Sebastien Perez apparently at death's door.
Owen had more cause to feel injured after an ugly foul for which Emre Asik was cautioned seven minutes before half-time. From Hamann's free-kick, swung high into the goalmouth, Sami Hyypia outjumped the defence and beat Mondragon with a downward header which then rebounded from the near post.
Having found their range Liverpool might well have scored more than once in what remained of the first half. That they did not was due to Mondragon tipping another emphatic shot from Hamann over the bar and the goal-line clearance which denied Heskey a goal after Owen had headed the ball on to him.
Having survived their little crisis Galatasaray resumed their pattern of the first half after the break, infiltrating space between Liverpool's midfield and back four while seeking opportunities to get Umit Karan speeding between Hyypia and Stephane Henchoz.
Heskey should have scored on the hour when he appeared in space to meet Riise's corner, but his header glanced off the top of the bar. Four minutes later, Danny Murphy was slipping past Korkmaz in a twinkle of feet. Only Mondragon stood in the way but Murphy dragged his shot wide.
LIVERPOOL: Kirkland, Xavier, Henchoz, Hyypia, Carragher (Smicer 67), Murphy, Hamann, Gerrard (McAllister 72), Riise, Owen, Heskey. Subs Not Used: Arphexad, Baros, Biscan, Wright, Litmanen.
GALATASARAY: Mondragon, Perez, Asik, Bulent Korkmaz, Victoria, Fleurquin, Bulent, Penbe, Sas (Sozkesen 80), Goktan, Karan,
Sozkesen (Niculescu 90). Subs Not Used: Inan, Inceefe, Erdem, Suat, Aykut. Booked: Asik, Fleurquin, Karan, Bulent.
Referee: Manuel Melo Pereira (Portugal).
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