Former Liverpool winger, Steve McManaman did not hold back in his criticism of Reds centre-back Ibrahima Konate’s performance during the 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday (March 10).
Although both teams shared possession equally, Arne Slot’s squad managed to take more shots on target (6-5) but failed to capitalize on them, with Mario Lemina’s strike in the seventh minute ultimately deciding the match at Rams Park.
Konate recorded two tackles, five clearances, a last-man tackle, and blocked one shot; however, he was also dribbled past once and made an error that led to a shot (all statistics according to Sofascore).
Notably, both Konate and his central defensive partner, captain Virgil van Dijk, were responsible for Lemina’s goal from a corner.
Van Dijk failed to block Victor Osimhen’s initial header, while Konate displayed poor positional awareness, allowing Lemina to score the winner by slipping behind the Reds’ defense.
“They were also really vulnerable at the back which I haven’t seen for a while,” McManaman remarked on TNT Sports (via Metro). “Anything that went into the penalty area, they looked as if they were going to concede.
“I think Konate had a night that he should quickly forget really because he looked at sixes and sevens for a lot of the evening.”
Konate nearly allowed a second goal just after the hour mark when Noa Lang set up Osimhen, but the effort was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
The Frenchman had an opportunity to redeem himself for his defensive mistakes by scoring Liverpool’s equalizer, but VAR intervened to assist Galatasaray as they secured a narrow victory in Slot’s 100th match in charge of the Reds.