Liverpool slumped to a shock 1-0 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday as Victor Osimhen's 16th-minute penalty handed the Turkish giants victory. The English champions were punished for the latest in a series of poor performances in Istanbul as they suffered back-to-back defeats for only the second time under Arne Slot. Liverpool were beaten for the first time this season at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but a series of late winners have masked an unconvincing start since a summer transformation of the squad that strolled to the Premier League title last season. Slot responded by leaving Mohamed Salah and £125 million ($168 million) signing Alexander Isak on the bench among four changes. The Dutchman was scathing in his assessment of Liverpool's first-half performance at Palace as only Alisson Becker prevented an embarrassing half-time score. However, Slot got little in the way of a response in another disjointed display from his array of star names. 

"Again, disappointment because you lose and football is about winning, but for me this was a different performance," said Slot. "The margins were very small last season but then we were a lot of times on the right side of the score. "Today again the margins were really small, but for the second time in a row on the wrong side." Galatasaray had been thrashed 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt to start their Champions League campaign. The Turkish champions are a far more formidable force on home soil, though, and made the most of Liverpool's defensive deficiencies. Slot's decision to play midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back backfired. Baris Alper Yilmaz gave the visitors a warning of the threat down Galatasaray's left when he failed to beat Alisson when one-on-one with the Brazilian.