Liverpool’s hopes of winning the Europa League were left hanging by a thread after they were thrashed 3-0 at Anfield by Atalanta in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Thursday.
Liverpool are hoping to make this season’s Europa League final in Dublin on May 22 their final game before Jurgen Klopp steps down as manager, but they face a monumental task to turn their last-eight tie around after a stunning Atalanta performance.
Liverpool, who started with Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai among the substitutes, saw Harvey Elliott come agonisingly close to opening the scoring with a shot that hit the bar and struck the post on its way back out.
Atalanta then took the lead seven minutes before half-time when Davide Zappacosta’s low ball in from the right was finished off first-time by former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca.
The same player made it 2-0 on the hour with a fine finish from Charles De Ketelaere’s assist.
Salah, who had come on at the start of the second half, then had a goal disallowed for offside before Atalanta made it 3-0 with seven minutes left.
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Caoimhin Kelleher spilled a shot by Ederson and Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic, who once belonged to Chelsea but did not play a first-team game, followed in to score.
The stunning victory for the side who sit sixth in Serie A ended Liverpool’s 33-game unbeaten run at home.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said: “It hurts, we didn’t lose here for a long time. They punished us for being sloppy in possession.
“This will definitely hurt tonight and then from tomorrow we need to switch it back on to get a result.”
Recent history suggests there is still hope for Klopp’s side, as they won 5-0 away to Atalanta in Bergamo in the Champions League group stage in 2020/21, a campaign in which they also lost to the Italian side at Anfield.
Thursday’s other game saw Benfica beat Marseille 2-1 in Lisbon in the first leg of their quarter-final.
Goals by Rafa Silva and Angel Di Maria either side of the break put the Portuguese side firmly in command, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal midway through the second half gives Marseille hope for the return next week.
Aubameyang is the Europa League’s all-time top scorer and has 10 goals in 10 games in the competition this season.
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