- Liverpool suffered a shocking 3-0 defeat against Atalanta at home on Thursday evening
- The Reds trailed 1-0 at half time and went on to concede two more goals in the second half against a spirited Atalanta side
The Liverpool vs Atalanta match played on Thursday night ended in a shocking 3-0 defeat for Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield Stadium.
Liverpool’s hopes of winning a quadruple in manager Klopp’s last season came to an agonizing stop in March when they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Premier League rivals Manchester United. Things have now gotten worse as their dream of at least reaching the final of the Europa League is hanging by a thread following last night’s humiliation at home.
Liverpool trailed 1-0 at half time and went on to concede two more goals in the second half against a spirited Atalanta side. The match was played at Anfield and it’s very unlikely that the Reds will turn around the results in the second leg of this UEFA Europa League tie which will be in Italy next week.
Liverpool vs Atalanta. Photo/ Sky Sports.
The 3-0 humiliation against Atalanta was the joint-heaviest defeat Liverpool have suffered in major European competition since losing to Real Madrid 3-0 in October 2014 and 5-2 in February 2023 in the UEFA Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp has led Liverpool to three UEFA Champions League finals since taking charge of the club in 2015, winning the 2019 edition. After announcing a few months ago that this will be his last season, there were hopes that he’ll bring another European title to Anfield before exiting, but that seems to be an unlikely scenario at the moment.
Speaking after his side lost the Liverpool vs Atalanta quarter-final match, Klopp said that they played badly and the opponents deserved the win.
“Nothing positive to say about the game. They [Atalanta] 100 per cent deserved it. It was a really bad game. I didn’t like our tactical discipline. We were everywhere. No counter press. I know the boys can play better football, but not tonight.” Sky Sports quotes Klopp.
Liverpool Vs Atalanta
Hosting Atalanta at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp made six changes to his squad that was held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester United at Old Trafford over the weekend. Forwards Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah were among those who started the match on the bench.
European nights and Anfield often go hand-in-hand but that was not the situation on Thursday evening right from the start of the clash. Anfield was almost silenced inside five minutes when Harvey Elliot gave away possession but Mario Pasalic failed to convert from point blank range. Liverpool’s goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher saved with his face to keep the scores level.
Elliot could have given the Reds an early lead shortly afterwards but his curved effort hit the post. Both sides were playing with pressure and it was Atalanta who their efforts paid off first shortly before the break when Gianluca Scamacca effort squirmed beneath Kelleher.
The visitors would have made it 2-0 before the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first period but Teun Koopmeiners’s dinked effort was stopped from going into the net by Kelleher.
Klopp made a triple change at halftime, introducing Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson. Salah almost made an immediate impact following his introduction but his well taken half-volley from close range was punched away by Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso.
Liverpool’s performance in the second half was better compared to the first period but they were left with a mountain to climb when Scamacca scored his second goal of the match in the 60th minute.
Atalanta beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield. Photo/ Eurosport.
Klopp reinforced his attack by introducing Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota but there was still no end product in front of goal. The home fans thought a comeback had started when Salah found the back of the net but the celebrations were cut short when the linesman raised his flag for offside.
Liverpool’s evening went from bad to worse with barely seven minutes left to play when Mario Pasalic made it 3-0 for Atalanta. The visitors winning this match 3-0 was something that no one would have expected to happen.
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