ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Liverpool need to make another miraculous European comeback when they face a rematch against Atalanta next week. The Reds, who had a listless and disastrous performance at Anfield, found themselves 3-0 down.
Mario Pašalić had missed a great chance in the first few minutes of the game and cleared the ball in what looked like an easier way to score. And it was Atalanta who looked the most dangerous, without necessarily being anything particularly special. Liverpool seized opportunities left, right and centre, but the Italian side could not fully capitalize on them.
Harvey Elliott hit the post with one strike as Liverpool started to regain some life and take control of the ball. That woke a quiet Anfield a bit and minutes later Curtis Jones curled one over the bar.
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But it didn’t last long and Liverpool were sloppy in every area, from back to front. Atalanta might have faded away in the meantime if Charles De Ketelaere hadn’t been so insistent on stepping back instead of shooting.
When Davide Zappacosta passed to Gianluca Scamacca to open the scoring, it was nothing the visitors did not deserve. It looked like the cavalry would be needed as Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Díaz warmed up at that end of the pitch.
Salah, Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson were introduced before the start of the second half but nothing changed. Scamacca grabbed an extremely easy second for Atalanta and Liverpool never really threatened Juan Musso in the Serie A side’s goal. Pašalić did not miss the second open goal and Atalanta deservedly took the lead 3-0.
Atalanta eliminated Rúben Amorim’s Sporting CP in the last 16 of this competition (3-2 on aggregate) but there seemed little surprise there. This was a poor showing from a struggling Liverpool team. But that, along with Atalanta’s generosity in front of goal, means the second leg could certainly bring a comeback. However, given this evidence, this would be extremely optimistic.
WINNERS
Atalanta won the match and took a defensive lead at home in the second leg, but the Italian side could not be said to be particularly exceptional. Even so, he could have scored more points than he did. De Ketelaere in particular was wasteful and Liverpool could easily have crashed out of the tie altogether. This will be the visitor’s only disappointment: that he hasn’t got everything quite right.
losers
Kostas Tsimikas played just 45 minutes and looked rusty. He hasn’t played more than half a game of competitive football since his full FA Cup game against Southampton at the end of January, and while it’s hard to single him out as a result, he’s shown it. Not only were there extenuating circumstances, but he wasn’t the only one who underperformed. Liverpool did not play in total.
PLAYER SCORES
Caoimhin Kelleher — 5
He should have done a better job on the opening goal and should have given the ball a few great chances when it wasn’t necessary. To be fair there wasn’t much action in front of him and he made a huge stop when Teun Koopmeiners finished on goal.
Joe Gomez-5
He was poor in possession (albeit less so than a few of his teammates) and it was not a sensational performance for him. A few times he gave her away too easily or was caught dawdling.
İbrahima Konate — 5
They were a bit sloppy with their possession and positioning in the first half, which led to several Atalanta players being allowed to go on goal. He also played a simple direct pass at one point to put the ball in play.
Virgil van Dijk-6
The Dutch defender was not as sharp a player in possession most of the time, but that may still be due to the lack of options in front of him more than anything else. He’s not as bad as most of those around him.
Kostas Tsimikas — 5
He looked really lacking in match action but that’s no surprise considering he hasn’t played in a long time. We can attribute his flashiness to a lack of rhythm, and the only way to improve is to gain time on the field.
Curtis Jones-6
He looked like he needed the minutes on his legs. He cleared the ball much more often than usual and appeared to be crowding the midfield as a result of Gian Piero Gasperini’s man-marking system.
Wataru Endo — 5
The ball got caught at his feet a few times and, like the rest of the midfield, he got a little underwhelmed at times. He dropped too deep to collect the ball but couldn’t do much. He caused several Atalanta counters by delaying the passing of the ball to someone.
Alexis Mac Allister-6
Its quietest performance in a while. He was kicked several times and Atalanta’s players were eager to get on top of him at every opportunity.
Harvey Elliott-6
He’s not a winger and doesn’t have the pace to do what someone like Salah does out wide. So, even considering the weekend, it was quite difficult to see it coming every once in a while.
Darwin Núñez — 6
At one point he won a free kick on the edge of the area but hit several dead ends and tipped over a few good chances when he should have done better. It didn’t interfere too much and was rightfully hooked.
Cody Gakpo — 5
The striker has looked much sharper in recent games but was sloppy here. A pass to Elliott would have been impressive had it been successful, but it ended up being too much effort.
RESERVES
Mohammed Salah — 6
He was a threat to a point, but Atalanta kept him quieter than Gasperini had hoped. There were too many corpses for the Egyptians to find their way through. He should have kept himself defensive when he found the net at the back post.
Dominik Szoboszlai — 5
Much more intensity was added to the middle of the pitch and much needed pace for five minutes. Like Jones, he didn’t really have any room to move and cleared the ball too easily for the third goal. That summed up Liverpool’s performance in an instant.
Andy Robertson — 6
Some sharpness was added down the left flank but things did not get any better for Liverpool. He bowled a few decent balls into the box but more than that there wasn’t much to write home about.
Luis Díaz — 5
There was absolutely no room for him to work on the left wing and the Colombian did not change anything when he came on. It was a coincidence that Atalanta’s second goal came as he entered the field.
Diogo Jota — 6
We added some excitement to the boring Liverpool performance by making a comeback. However, he could not provide the spark needed for the Reds to get back into the draw.