Arne Slot backs Liverpool players to handle the intimidating atmosphere when they face Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League last-16 on Tuesday night.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 at Rams Park earlier in the competition, a match played in one of the loudest and most intimidating stadium environments in European football. The Turkish champions are famous for their passionate support, and Slot admitted the noise level shocked even his most experienced players.
“These fans over here are very impressive. We noticed that when we played here,” Slot said.
“The good thing is we’ve experienced it already once now. That is a positive thing, though the Galatasaray players experience it every home game.
“For us, it was new. When you have the ball, the whistling is so loud, so loud. That was new for me and even for all of my experienced players.
“The good thing is we’ve already experienced it, but we don’t only play against the fans, we also play against 11 very good players with a very good manager.”
Galatasaray reached the knockout stages after an impressive play-off victory over Juventus, and the Istanbul crowd is expected to play a major role again as the club contest their first Champions League last-16 tie in more than a decade.
For Liverpool, the match also marks a personal milestone for Slot, who will take charge of his 100th game as Reds manager.
“It makes me really proud that I became Liverpool manager and that it’s going to be my 100th game,” he said.
“I don’t think I have a bad track record, although sometimes you get a different feeling about that if I have to listen to everything.
“It’s nice the 100th game is such a nice game to play – Champions League last 16 away to Galatasaray.
“But, as ever, it’s never about the manager, it’s about the players. I try to prepare them as well as the previous games, but it’s the players who have to perform.
“I’ve been lucky. I’ve been given a very good team and I have all the trust that these players will perform at the levels they are used to as a Liverpool team.”
Liverpool travelled to Turkey without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who is injured, while forward Federico Chiesa missed the trip through illness – absences that could influence team selection for the decisive European tie.
The winners of the two-legged clash will face either Chelsea or reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, adding further weight to what is already one of Liverpool’s biggest matches of the season.
