Liverpool were handed a return to the scene of their 2005 Champions League triumph plus a reunion with Demba Ba, the striker who helped derail their title challenge last season, in a bittersweet Europa League draw for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
The Anfield club face Besiktas in the last 32 following their elimination from Europe’s premier competition by Basel last week. Tottenham Hotspur will play Fiorentina and Celtic must overcome Internazionale in a repeat of the 1967 European Cup final, when Jock Stein’s team became the first British club to be crowned champions of Europe.
Everton, the only British side seeded in Monday’s draw in Nyon, landed arguably the most favourable tie when they were paired against Young Boys of Berne. First-leg ties will be played on 19 February, when unseeded teams play at home, with the return legs on 26 February.
Besiktas lead the Turkish Super League by a point from Galatasaray and Liverpool will be the third Premier League opponent that Slaven Bilic’s side have faced in Europe this season. They lost to Arsenal in the Champions League play-offs and faced Tottenham in the group stage of the Europa League.
With their former ground in central Istanbul being redeveloped, Besiktas’ present home is the Ataturk Stadium where Liverpool stunned Milan in 2005 to win the European Cup for a fifth time. Liverpool also beat the Turkish club 8-0 in a Champions League tie in 2007-08. The presence of Ba in the Besiktas attack, however, will revive more recent, painful memories for Rodgers’ team after the former Chelsea striker capitalised on Steven Gerrard’s slip at Anfield in April and tilted the Premier League title race in Manchester City’s favour.
“It’s a difficult pairing,” said the Senegal international, who left Chelsea in a £4.7m deal in the summer. “Liverpool are having some hard times now. They couldn’t get the results they desired and things are not going well for them but hard games are ahead of us. If we can snatch a good result in the first leg, it will be an advantage to be playing the second leg at home.”
Liverpool’s defeat at Manchester United on Sunday left the Anfield club with their lowest points total after 16 league games in 50 years. Rodgers’ team have now lost more matches this term than they did throughout last season’s title pursuit and, though results have intensified pressure on the Liverpool manager, he retains the firm backing of the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group.
There is little respite on the horizon for Rodgers, with a Capital One Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth on Wednesday followed by Arsenal’s visit to Anfield on Sunday, but his future is not currently up for discussion at Liverpool. “It’s crazy to even talk about his future,” said Kolo Touré following the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford. “He’s a great manager and we all know that. Just look at how fantastic he did last season. We’re all behind him and we’re all trying to make things better. He’s a great manager. We all love him.”
