He is a magnet for drama, isn’t he? Life with Mario Balotelli is never dull and so it proved again. There is a reason it is always him.
A coolly dispatched 84th-minute penalty gives Liverpool a slender advantage to protect in Istanbul but that only tells a fragment of the story of how this most mercurial of strikers delivered for Brendan Rodgers when it mattered most.
When Jordon Ibe was bundled over by Ramon Motta, Jordan Henderson seemed certain to take the captain’s role and assume responsibility for the spot-kick. Daniel Sturridge also wanted to take it. But then up popped Balotelli, who took the ball off Henderson and put it on the spot.
From the scenes that followed, that decision was anything but popular. But as some squabbled and manager Rodgers looked on stone-faced, Balotelli barely flickered. He simply tapped Henderson on the arm, told him he was fine and then casually sent Cenk Goken the wrong way.
This was his third big contribution in a week, following on from a goal against Tottenham and a free-kick that led to Adam Lallana’s winner at Crystal Palace, and how it was needed. This tie, as Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic noted, is far from over and another test of character awaits in Istanbul.
Finally, however, Liverpool are winning again in Europe. Rodgers' message before this contest was a hope and desire that they would play with verve and dash and show Europe a glimpse of the dynamic brand that almost carried them to the title.
The Champions League campaign, after all, had been a washout. Liverpool’s performances in those six games with Real Madrid, Ludogorets and Basle were miserable and never threatened to take them to the latter stages.
Having won their opening contest in September with a late penalty, Liverpool then lurched from bad to worse and did not win any of their remaining five fixtures. A failure to beat Besiktas, then, would have seen them set an unwanted club record of most games without a victory in Europe.
In the first attack, you could see the difference between the Liverpool of then and now as a slick move, which involved Joe Allen and Ibe, ended with Sturridge hoodwinking Ersan Gulum with a deft back heel but goalkeeper Cenk Gonen parried his shot.
Stood in his technical area, Rodgers acknowledged the passage of passing with a thumbs up but the period of domination he might have expected to follow did not arrive, as Besiktas showed themselves to be obdurate opponents. They frustrated Tottenham at White Hart Lane in this competition last October and it was easy to see why they have been so proficient, as they worked relentlessly and had menace on the break.
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