Earlier today Liverpool’s Under-19s beat their Fenerbahce counterparts 5-3, with Will Wright scoring a hat-trick. They were 3-1 up after just 20 minutes, and 4-2 up after half an hour, while Fenerbahce finished with 10 men after Ali Demirbilek was sent off in stoppage time. Also on the scoresheet was Finn Inglethorpe, son of Liverpool’s long-time academy director, Alex.

Yesterday afternoon former Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt told the media how excited he was to be facing his former team as Fenerbahce’s interim manager. “As soon as the draw was done, I was really excited because everyone knows how much Fenerbahce and Liverpool mean to me and, from that moment, you know it will be a special occasion,” he beamed. “Of course, tomorrow will be a very special occasion for me but at the stage we’re in, I’m not here for myself. I’m here for the club and that’s what is important, to show the fans who deserve much more, a reaction, positive energy and a good performance.”

Then, at 11.25pm local time last night, the Turkish side announced that former Newcastle midfielder Emre Belozoglu – veteran also of two spells at Fener as a player and one as interim manager in 2021 – was replacing Kuyt, and his special occasion was imperilled. In the cold light of a new day it looks like Emre won’t take over until after this game, at which point Kuyt will either return to the role of assistant he held under previous head coach Ismail Kartal, or leave the club.

Either way, this promises to be a raucous farewell/not farewell. Fenerbahce are having a stinker of a season, sixth in the Super Lig having lost their last two league games, most recently experiencing a Hallowe’en nightmare at home to Goztepe, but this gives them a probably welcome distraction. Let’s see what they do with it, shall we?