Dirk Kuyt hailed an “incredible” night for Fenerbahce after the Turkish club came from behind twice to beat his former side Liverpool 3-2 in Istanbul.
The result gave Fenerbahce their first Champions League victory in 18 years, with Vedat Muriqi scoring the decisive goal with a header in the 79th minute.
Kuyt spent six years at Liverpool and helped them reach the Champions League final in 2007. However, he was in temporary charge of Fenerbahce on Wednesday and found himself leading the club against the team where he made 285 appearances.
Liverpool took the lead on two occasions. Trey Nyoni scored his first senior goal before Alexander Isak registered his maiden Champions League goal for Liverpool in the 69th minute.
Fenerbahce responded each time, with Mason Greenwood and Archie Brown scoring before Muriqi’s late header completed the comeback. It was also Muriqi’s first Champions League goal.
“It was a very special night for me and everyone who loves Fenerbahce,” said Kuyt.
“We had some difficult times but I have to give a very big compliment to the players of Fenerbahce and also the staff members who keep pushing the players.
“We told each other to stick together, be united and keep believing in ourselves. That’s something I learned from another club that means a lot to me and that is Liverpool, who we played tonight.
“I’m very happy with all the players, all the people involved, that we made a miracle tonight because not many people expected us to win. But we said before the game that we have a chance if we show passion, energy; if we stick to our game plan then the crowd will come behind us.
“We showed Europe what a wonderful club and what wonderful supporters that Fenerbahce has.”
Liverpool’s defeat came despite taking the lead as late as the 69th minute, the latest they have ever gone ahead in a major European match before eventually losing.
The visitors also conceded three goals from set pieces in a Champions League game for only the second time. The previous occasion was a 3-3 draw against Sevilla in November 2017.
This was the first time Liverpool had conceded three non-penalty set-piece goals in a single match, a statistic that angered Andoni Iraola.
“The main reason that I can find for why we lost this game is we conceded from three set pieces. It’s something that we were doing very well in,” he said.
“We knew it was one of the strengths of Fenerbahce. We concede from a free-kick, a corner and even from the long throw at the end.
“They’re goals that have hurt us because we’ve gone twice in front after having good moments, controlling the game. We’ve found the goals but we have conceded in situations we should definitely defend better.
“It’s frustrating because it’s a difficult place to come here and play. In most parts of the game we were thinking we could win this one but obviously it hasn’t happened.
“Especially the first goal and the third goal – the second one is a rebound – but the first one, I don’t think we set the wall properly and the last one, Muriqi wins the ball against three defenders; it’s definitely something we need to defend better.”
