ANKARA
Turkish team Besiktas has sent the English team Liverpool packing after beating them 5-4 on penalties in the UEFA Europa League Round 32 match.
Turkey’s Besiktas snatched victory from England's Liverpool, 5-4, on penalties in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Round 32 at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Thursday night.
Visitors Liverpool had dominated the first half of the game despite it ending in a 0-0 draw.
In the 70th minute, the long range shot of Besiktas midfielder Tolgay Arslan shaved the bar. Two minutes later, Arslan broke the deadlock with a curved fierce shot outside the area, enabling Besiktas to take the lead, 1-0.
In injury time, Demba Ba's close range shot had rattled the crossbar. The game went into extra time.
In the extra minutes, however, no side managed to score and eventually the winner had to be decided via penalties.
Liverpool will now head home after their defender Dejan Lovren missed the last penalty. On the other hand, Besiktas will cruise ahead in the tournament after scoring on all five penalties. The Turkish club now qualifies for the last 16 in the Europa League.
The draws for Round 16 of the UEFA Europa League were made in the Swiss city of Nyon on Friday. Turkish side Besiktas paired with Belgian team Club Brugge.
Besiktas will play the first leg in Belgium on March 12 and the return match will kick off at Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul on March 19.
Russian and Ukrainian teams cannot be paired with each other due to the political crisis between the countries.
Round of 16 draws:
Everton (ENG) vs Dinamo Kiev (UKR)
Dnipro (UKR) vs Ajax (NED)
Zenit (RUS) vs Torino (ITA)
Wolfsburg (GER) vs Inter (ITA)
Villarreal (ESP) vs Sevilla (ESP)
Napoli (ITA) vs Dinamo Moscow (RUS)
Club Brugge (BEL) vs Besiktas (TUR)
Fiorentina (ITA) vs Roma (ITA)
