Ewan Kingsbury

Fri 12 April 2024 7:10, UK

Liverpool fell to a shock 3-0 defeat in their Europa League quarter-final first leg against Atalanta at Anfield on Thursday (11 April).

Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring on 38 minutes before doubling the lead on the hour mark.

Mario Pasalic then added the gloss to a famous result for the Italian side on 83 minutes following a defensive breakdown in the Liverpool ranks.

Atalanta also defended excellently throughout, restricting the Reds to five shots on target – with Mohamed Salah also seeing a goal disallowed for offside.

Liverpool must now travel to northern Italy next Thursday (18 April) and overturn a three-goal deficit to advance to a potential semi-final against Benfica or Marseille.

Klopp will regret Elliott sub as two Liverpool stars turn in 3/10 displays

Football Insider has analysed Liverpool’s performance against the Serie A outfit.

STARTING LINEUP

Caoimhin Kelleher [5]

Made a superb initial save but should have done better with the first and third goals. The Ireland international made four saves and was successful with just 72% of his passes.

Joe Gomez [3]

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s imminent return to full fitness could spell the end of Gomez’s run in the Liverpool side. He won just three of his seven duels, lost possession 21 times and wasted two promising attacks with wayward shots in the second half.

Ibrahima Konate [3]

Appalling. Was caught napping for Atalanta’s second and went chasing after the ball for their third, only for the Italians to knock it past him and storm through on goal. Konate won just 10 of his 17 duels and lost possession 15 times.

Virgil van Dijk [4]

Van Dijk was solid one-vs-one but was exposed at times when trying to play offside in the second half. Made the most passes of any Liverpool player (70) but the defensive errors do not reflect well on the Reds captain.

Kostas Tsimikas [3]

Shocking first-half display saw him hooked at half-time. Atalanta looked to expose the left-back time and again and the Greek was caught way out of position for their opening goal.

Wataru Endo [5]

Endo has been an absolute beast since the autumn but looked tired in the first half and was subbed on 76 minutes. Lost possession 13 times and won only two of his five duels, his worst stats for six months.

Alexis Mac Allister [5]

The darling of 2024 delivered a rare off-key display, winning just five of his 12 duels. He blazed over with a good chance in the first half.

Curtis Jones [5]

Jones was another subbed at half-time after his return from injury. He found the target with 22 of his 24 passes and laid on one big chance, but won just one of his five duels in a fractured Liverpool midfield.

Harvey Elliott [6]

Elliott was withdrawn at half-time despite being the bright spark for Liverpool in the first half. He was desperately unlucky to see his curler come off the bar and post and was also accurate with three of his four long balls. Could Klopp be regretting taking him off?

Darwin Nunez [4]

Poor. Won just one of eight duels and missed a golden first-half chance – one of his four total shots. Was subbed on 60 minutes with Liverpool needing a goal, and could lose his place to the returning Diogo Jota in the weeks to come.

Cody Gakpo [6]

Alongside Elliott, Gakpo was another bright spark in the Liverpool attack. The Dutchman was successful with five of his six dribbles but will be disappointed not to manage a single shot in 90 minutes.

SUBSTITUTES

Mohamed Salah [4]

Came on at half-time and looked to have pulled a goal back, but was offside when he really shouldn’t have been. He made just seven successful passes in 45 minutes, a damning indictment of his involvement in the game.

Andy Robertson [5]

Was a major upgrade on Tsimikas but similarly struggled with Atalanta’s threat down the right-hand side. The left-back was key to giving the Italians more to think about defensively and will be hoping to start next week’s crucial tie in Bergamo.

Dominik Szoboszlai [4]

Came on at half-time but couldn’t stamp his mark on the game and gifted Atalanta a third goal – which could be crucial. He failed to win any of his four duels and gave away possession 10 times.

Luis Diaz [N/A]

Played 30 minutes in place of Nunez but couldn’t make any tangible impact on the game.

Diogo Jota [N/A]

Replaced Endo with 15 minutes remaining but the damage was already done. Liverpool fans will welcome his return from a long-term injury.

In other news, Liverpool agree deal in principle for Ruben Amorim.

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