Ryan Babel was the star of the show during Besiktas UEFA Europa League match against Olympiakos which was played on March 16 of 2017.
The 30 year old Dutch footballer scored twice which helped his team Besiktas securing a 4-1 triumph over Olympiakos and an aggregate scoreboard of 5-2 which was more than enough for Ryan Babel and his team to advance into the quarter-finals of the European competition.
The goal that Ryan Babel scored in this particular UEFA Europa League match was the 1st one that he has ever scored ever since leaving the English Premier League club Liverpool back in January of 2011.
In this particular UEFA Europa League match against Olympiakos, Ryan Babel scored twice and when the match was over, the Dutch player went on to say that he dedicated those goals to Liverpool as he said:
“At half-time I knew we were in trouble, heads started to drop but we pulled together at the break. I knew we had to fight, we had to really fight and I learned never to give up at Liverpool. It is where I learned to defend, I had to defend and work hard in the second half but when the opportunity was given I took it.”
Besiktas have now qualified for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League and were pitted to face off with Lyon. Both clubs already faced off in their 1st leg which was played on April 13 and the final scoreboard was 2-2 in favor of the French club. Ryan Babel was the only player who scored the only goal for Besiktas as he found the back of the net at the 15th minute.
The 2nd leg is scheduled to be played on April 20 and Besiktas will need more goals in order to stay alive in the European competition.