Fenerbahce Ends Liverpool’s Perfect Champions League Start with 3-2 Victory

Liverpool lost their 100% Champions League record in Istanbul as Vedat Muriqi secured a 3-2 win for Fenerbahce in the 79th minute.

Vedat Muriqi scored a 79th-minute winner to secure a 3-2 victory for Fenerbahce over Liverpool on Wednesday in Istanbul. The result ended Liverpool's perfect Champions League record and marked the first time the club has conceded three goals in three consecutive European fixtures. Trey Nyoni opened the scoring with his first goal for the club, and Alexander Isak also found the net for the visitors, but Liverpool twice surrendered their lead to goals from Mason Greenwood and Archie Brown.

Head coach Andoni Iraola attributed the defeat to poor set-piece defending, noting that the Turkish side scored via a free kick, a corner, and a long throw. The second goal involved Cody Gakpo touching the ball directly in front of goalkeeper Alisson Becker, while the opening free kick traveled through the wall from distance. Iraola cited crowd noise in the stadium as a factor that made communication between Gakpo and Alisson nearly impossible during these sequences.

Liverpool has now lost two consecutive matches following a five-game winning streak across all competitions. The defeat extends a poor historical record in Türkiye, where the club has managed only one win and one draw against seven losses. Despite making five changes to the starting lineup—relegating Isak, Gakpo, and Florian Wirtz to the bench until the second half—Iraola maintained that squad rotation was necessary for the midweek schedule and not the primary cause of the loss.