Graeme Souness' regret at Galatasaray flag stunt and reason Liverpool icon risked a riot

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Liverpool icon Graeme Souness infamously planted a Galatasaray flag in their rivals' stadium during his time as manager as the Reds prepare to face the Turkish club in the Champions LeagueLiverpool legend Graeme Souness has previously admitted regretting his infamous flag controversy as Galatasaray manager. Former Liverpool forward Saunders provided the winner in the 116th minute, leading to wild celebrations, while Souness felt he still had a score to settle with a member of the Fenerbahce hierarchy.“One of their [Fenerbahce's] vice-presidents had said 'What are Galatasaray doing signing a cripple?' He was referring to the open-heart surgery I had,” Souness previously recalled to Goals on Sunday."We win the trophy and after the game, all of our players ran down to one end where our supporters were and that great big flag was handed over.“All the players took turns to wave it and then it's my turn, I give it a few waves and then turned to hand it to someone.

“It’s one of them things that you wish you hadn’t done, but at the time, it seemed like a good idea,” he confessed.Content cannot be displayed without consentSouness may have come to regret his actions, but he is still revered by Galatasaray fans. In 2023, the Liverpool icon recreated his flag celebration when Galatasaray sealed the league title with a game to spare following a 3-0 home win over Fenerbahce.The original incident has gone down in footballing folklore.

Ex-Liverpool striker Saunders, who scored 21 goals that season, could still vividly recall the uproar in the stadium decades later.“Not only were 62,000 people devastated they had lost to Galatasaray, he then picked the flag up and ran past me to the centre circle, but he couldn’t get it in,” Saunders told talkSPORT in 2023. “He ran past me on his way back and I just said ‘all the best’.“This Fenerbahce fan has tried to get to him by the tunnel and he’s gone bang, right hook.