First, it was Virgil van Dijk. And as Liverpool suffered a Champions League defeat by Galatasaray, it was Dominik Szoboszlai’s turn to find himself twisted inside out by a forward long-since admired by West Ham United.
Few attackers in world football can claim to have outpaced the Liverpool captain in a one-v-one battle. Even fewer will be able to say that they out-muscled him.
But as Turkey and the Netherlands played out a tense Euro 2024 quarter-final, Baris Alper Yilmaz not only sped past Virgil van Dijk to latch onto a probing through ball, he also knocked the 6ft 4ins giant off his stride and robbed him of possession inside his own penalty area.
So as Liverpool were given a typically fiery welcome into the pits of Hell itself on Tuesday evening – Arne Slot’s charges rubbing their eyes and yawning on their bus ride in after a night’s sleep disrupted by enough pyro to fuel a New Year’s fireworks display on the banks of the Thames – one imagines Van Dijk would have warned Dominik Szoboszlai to watch his shoulder and beware the darting runs of Galatasaray’s peroxide prince.
Hammers News reported back in June that West Ham were interested in Baris Alper Yilmaz.
Galatasaray reportedly rejected a £21 million bid from the East London outfit back the previous January. True or not – the Turkish press are known to exaggerate the truth a little on the transfer front – the flying start Yilmaz has made to the new campaign justifies an alleged £30 million asking price.
If West Ham United remain hot on Yilmaz’s trail, meanwhile, the sight of him tearing into the Premier League champions could spark another winter of heavy speculation.
West Ham United target Baris Alper Yilmaz terrorises Liverpool in the Champions League
Turkey international Yilmaz has been likened to Kylian Mbappe and Gareth Bale. Two attackers renowned, perhaps more so than anything else, for their explosive acceleration.
There was certainly something Mbappe-esque about the way Yilmaz burst out of the blocks and left Szoboszlai for dead just two minutes in at Rams Park. Alisson would deny him one-v-one, but the warning signs were there right from the off.
A quarter of an hour in, and with his confidence sky high, Yilmaz darted directly at Liverpool’s makeshift right-back. Twisting and turning one way and the other, he drew a clumsy, if rather soft, challenge from Szoboszlai to earn a penalty converted by Victor Osimhen.
‘Baris Alper Yılmaz demolished Liverpool!,’ Turkish publication Fanatik wrote after Galatasaray defeated an English opponent for the third season in a row, after Manchester United in 2023 and Tottenham Hotspur in 2024.
‘He couldn’t be stopped.’
Certainly not by Szoboszlai, anyway. The Hungarian had held his own in the right-back berth until now. But this was an altogether different challenge. As Van Dijk found out a year ago, that formidable combination of searing pace and devastating directness can challenge even the finest defenders.
Arne Slot slams Yilmaz as Nuno given route to West Ham success
A less-than-magnanimous Arne Slot was not quite so complimentary however, opting to focus on what he felt was a pretty blatant Yilmaz dive.
“I haven’t seen it back but there was no contact with the feet,” Slot fumed, ignoring the part when Szoboszlai caught the long-standing West Ham target with a flailing arm into his neck.
“The last few weeks, I am talking quite a lot about how we are a very fair team and maybe their player was really smart. He felt something and made it feel as if it is an unbelievable hit.
“The referee thought he could not overturn it, though he did in the last minute when we got one.”
That is two defeats in a row now for a Liverpool side who continue to look more and more vulnerable by the week, especially up against quick counter-attacks.
Who knows, when the Reds travel to the London Stadium on November 30th, Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen will do to Slot’s increasingly-brittle backline what Yilmaz did in Istanbul.
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