Dirk Kuyt celebrated a special night for Fenerbahce, as he believes the Turkish giants demonstrated what a "wonderful club" they are in their win over his old team Liverpool.
Kuyt spent six years at Liverpool, reaching the Champions League final with them in 2007.
Yet he lined up against the Reds on Wednesday, as he is in interim charge of Fener.
And the Dutchman led Fener to their first Champions League victory in 18 years as Vedat Muriqi's 79th-minute header clinched a 3-2 win.
Liverpool twice went ahead in Istanbul, through Trey Nyoni's first senior strike and Alexander Isak's maiden Champions League goal for the Reds.
Yet Fener twice fought back, with Mason Greenwood and Archie Brown on target before Muriqi's first Champions League goal settled the contest.
"It was a very special night for me and everyone who loves Fenerbahce," said Kuyt.
"We had some difficult times but I have to give a very big compliment to the players of Fenerbahce and also the staff members who keep pushing the players.
"We told each other to stick together, be united and keep believing in ourselves. That's something I learned from another club that means a lot to me and that is Liverpool, who we played tonight.
"I'm very happy with all the players, all the people involved, that we made a miracle tonight because not many people expected us to win. But we said before the game that we have a chance if we show passion, energy; if we stick to our game plan then the crowd will come behind us.
"We showed Europe what a wonderful club and what wonderful supporters that Fenerbahce has."
Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool A fifth consecutive away defeat in the UCL for Liverpool against a Turkish club. Fenerbahçe were 2-1 down with just 17 minutes to go, but goals from Archie Brown & Vedat Muriqi turn the game around in their favour.
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 4, 2026
Isak gave Liverpool a 2-1 lead in the 69th minute, meaning it is the latest they have ever gone ahead in a major European game and then lost.
Liverpool conceded three goals from set pieces in a Champions League game for just the second time, along with their 3-3 draw with Sevilla in November 2017, though this was the first time ever they have let in three non-penalty set-piece goals in one game.
And that infuriated Andoni Iraola.
"The main reason that I can find for why we lost this game is we conceded from three set pieces. It's something that we were doing very well in," he said.
"We knew it was one of the strengths of Fenerbahce. We concede from a free-kick, a corner and even from the long throw at the end.
"They're goals that have hurt us because we've gone twice in front after having good moments, controlling the game. We've found the goals but we have conceded in situations we should definitely defend better.
"It's frustrating because it's a difficult place to come here and play. In most parts of the game we were thinking we could win this one but obviously it hasn't happened.
"Especially the first goal and the third goal – the second one is a rebound – but the first one, I don't think we set the wall properly and the last one, Muriqi wins the ball against three defenders; it's definitely something we need to defend better."