They made a smart race, but there was no miracle in Italy. Not like in Istanbul in 2005 or against Barcelona in 2019.
Therefore, outgoing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not satisfied with his arrival in Europe.
In the end, the worst performance of his time as manager, seven days earlier at Anfield, was enough to see his side knocked out of the Europa League quarter-finals, a party that seemed destined to win.
However, while many suspected Liverpool were claiming the trophy, Atalanta erased it.
Mo Salah made Liverpool fans dream with a penalty in the 7th minute, but in the end they did not have enough opposition against Gian Piero Gasperini’s team, who certainly struggled to get to this level with a 3-0 lead.
But they have done enough to win and now Klopp will have to concentrate on his final six games as manager, all in the Premier League, starting against Fulham on Sunday.
Unsurprisingly, Liverpool, buoyed by that first goal, had plenty of possession, but when they needed it they couldn’t create too many clear-cut chances.
Had Liverpool reached the Europa League final in Dublin on May 22, one can only believe how many enthusiasts would have flocked to Ireland by land, sea and air. Actually, it would be more than 100,000.
But here, Klopp’s last game in Europe was watched by just 750 fans, plus a few who snuck into the venue.
Atalanta, who had former Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac at full-back and former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca up front, celebrated their biggest achievement by reaching the quarter-finals.
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In that 4-0 win over Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals, the Reds took the lead in the seventh minute through Divock Origi and did so again to lead with exactly the same amount of time. on the clock.
A cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold hit Matteo Ruggeri’s arm and, after a VAR check, Mo Salah sent goalkeeper Juan Musso off the spot.
Alexander-Arnold, who comes in his hybrid role, moving from right-back to midfield, back in form, has some disrupts for Atalanta. He had the most touchdowns in the first half (60), the most passes (44) and also made some shots.
Looking incredibly nervous and unsure of how to handle the situation, Atalanta were forced to be transparent by sending the ball nowhere, and that was in the first 30 minutes.
There were some tricky moments defensively for Liverpool in the first half as Atalanta struggled to advance.
Alisson made an impressive save to deny Virgil van Dijk an own goal, but it was ruled offside.
The Teun Koopmeiners also had a chance ahead of Alisson, but as he prepared to celebrate in front of the ultras at the North Bend, the flag was raised again.
Before the break, Salah had a great chance and in the first part of the season, before suffering some injuries, he would have defended himself. He had run towards goal, but when the goalkeeper was beating, he fired a weak shot wide.
As Liverpool advanced, Atalanta created a few more and midfielder Ederson squandered a decent chance but fired a docile side-footed shot into Alisson’s arms.
So it turned out to be Klopp’s last European game against Liverpool and by far his most disappointing result.
The win against Spurs in the 2019 final in Madrid is clearly in the spotlight. Although in terms of pain for Klopp, the Spanish capital has occupied an important place.
Klopp has lost two finals to Real Madrid, in Kiev and Paris. His team also suffered two round of 16 eliminations to Real, while in 2020 they also suffered a round of 16 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
They were all in the Champions League, while Klopp suffered a defeat in the 2016 Europa League final to Unai Emery’s Sevilla.
Klopp has maintained that the defeat in Basel gave Liverpool the fire to move forward and that’s what they did.
Now, Klopp will hope that his team can get back into form and still fight for the league. And if they manage to keep the Premier League up in the air on May 19, it will be Klopp’s greatest achievement.
Until then, no one will be able to suffer that defeat in Lombardy.
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