Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk: 'I believe in my players'

In the UEFA Champions League last 16 round rematch, Galatasaray will face English team Liverpool away from home. Coach Okan Buruk made statements at the press conference.

"WE MUST REFLECT OUR EXPERIENCE ON THE PITCH"

Stating that it will be an important night for Turkish football, Okan Buruk said, "It is really nice to be in this stadium. It is valuable to enter here, to imagine tomorrow's match here, to play it in our minds. It is a very important night for Turkish football, not only for Galatasaray. We have had our ups and downs in our Champions League adventure, but we have gained a lot of experience. We need to reflect this experience on the pitch. We will play against a very good team. Both the players and the coach are important names. Their biggest goal this year is to be successful in the Champions League. We beat our opponent twice but those were at home. Now it's a new adventure, an away match. I believe in my players. I dream that they will give the most they can give and why not leave here with a round. I hope we will realize this dream."

Stating that they are in a good situation as a team, the experienced technical man continued with the following words:

"We should not dwell on the past but on our current situation. We are in a good situation as a team. We have a rising performance. Our self-confidence is high, we have become a better team, we know each other very well. We are doing very well in the league and in Europe. The value of our players is increasing, a player like Gabi is going to the Brazilian National Team. He received such a call. I hope he will be successful here and then in the national team."

"WE WILL BE SAD TO LOSE"

Evaluating Liverpool's possible starting 11, Okan Buruk said, "When I was thinking about Liverpool's 11, their 11 in the first match was a surprise. I was expecting Gomez, he has an injury for tomorrow, I read that he probably won't play. They always have changes at right back. You can't really put this in, if you have Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai in the midfield and Gakpo and Salah on the wing, where will Wirtz play? To play all 4 players he plays Szoboszlai at right back. He might think about that tomorrow for the offensive game. In the first game Wirtz came in a lot from the edge, in the first minutes we couldn't settle against it but then we managed. We know our opponent, we know what they will do. We need to focus on our own game a little bit, I will think about what we can do better."

Stating that they have a chance to win, Okan Buruk continued as follows

"It would not be right to evaluate only on team values. It is important to have good players. Galatasaray also have good players. We will be very happy if we win. If we fail, we will be very sad. We will not think that we came this far and lost here, we will be sad either way. We have a chance to win, that's how I want to think, that's how my players should think too. It would be better to think about where we will go if we win."

"THE PUNISHMENT IS NOT FAIR"

Finally, speaking about the absence of the fans, Okan Buruk concluded his sentences with the following words

"It was very important that the fans were there, but this is also a motivation. This penalty is not fair. It's not right for the Galatasaray fans' section and it's not right for Liverpool. Different people are penalized for different people's mistakes. The punishment is not right, not fair. It's not justified, it's not right. We will play here for our fans. They support us wherever we go. We will play for them. This is an important opportunity for us."