Liverpool were knocked out of the Europa League despite winning 1-0 in Bergamo on Thursday night, with Atalanta’s 3-0 victory last week in the first leg helping the Italian side progress 3-1 on aggregate. It was a disappointing round for English sides in Europe, with Arsenal, Man City and West Ham also knocked out of continental competition.
Here are our talking points from this Atalanta v Liverpool clash.
Six changes to starting XI
Jurgen Klopp made as many as six changes for this must-win clash, with the likes of Alisson, Mo Salah, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold all restored to the starting XI. This was more like the lineup that Reds fans thought he should’ve fielded in the first leg at Anfield.
First leg starting XI: Kelleher, Tsimikas, Van Dijk, Konate, Gomez, Jones, Endo, MacAllister, Gakpo, Nunez, Elliott
Second leg starting XI: Alisson, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, TAA, Jones, Szoboszlai, MacAllister, Gakpo, Diaz, Salah
7th minute first-goal like Barca comeback
The Reds had a dream start here, with Matteo Ruggeri penalised for handball by French referee Francois Letexier, and Salah cooly converting the spot-kick to make it 1-0 to the visitors in the 7th minute.
Interestingly, Liverpool’s first goal in that great game against Barcelona had also come in the 7th minute!
Crucial Salah miss before half-time
That Barca-like start, plus Liverpool’s record here (they won 5-0 in Atalanta after losing 2-0 at Anfield in the Champions League group stages back in 2020) had Reds fans cautiously optimistic of another fairy-tale comeback.
Liverpool were dominant in the first half, but didn’t create too many clear-cut chances. Luis Diaz had one in the 12th minute, but with Russo advancing and shutting down space, it was harsh to call it a chance. Mo Salah though had a very decent opportunity when he had to chip the Atalanta keeper from distance in the 39th minute. It wasn’t an easy finish, but you’d expect someone of Salah’s calibre to score from that position. A goal in that situation would’ve set the cat among the pigeons in Bergamo, but unfortunately for Liverpool, he missed.
Lacklustre second half
That miss from Salah appeared to deflate the Reds, who had a very lacklustre second half.
They had 8 shots in the first half, but only 2 shots in the second (and both were headers and low on xG)
(second half shots map)
Klopp’s last European game as LFC manager
Klopp will go down as one of Liverpool’s greatest ever managers in their history. This is probably however not the way he had envisaged his final European game as LFC gaffer- one would’ve probably expected them to face Bayer Leverkusen (coached by ex-Reds star Xabi Alonso) in the final in Dublin.
But even he cut a tired figure towards the end as the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion with the Atalanta fans singing in full voice as their side advance to a last-four clash against Marseille. Liverpool could simply not find a way through in the second half and will now have to focus their attention on the league, having been knocked out both the FA Cup and the Europa League in a matter of weeks.
Danns’ first European game for Liverpool
It probably got missed in all the disappointment surrounding the Reds’ exit, but this game also marked Jayden Danns’ European debut for LFC- the youngster took the field as a second-half substitute for Robertson in the 79th minute.