Liverpool have six games remaining to send Jurgen Klopp off on a high as they sit third in the Premier League - two points off the top

Liverpool have six games remaining to send Jurgen Klopp off on a high as they sit third in the Premier League - two points off the top

Even if Xabi Alonso was still in the running to replace Jürgen Klopp, all Liverpool eyes would have been trained on Bergamo tonight. But while the Reds tried and failed to stage another famous European comeback, their former midfielder was also in the dugout, navigating a trip to West Ham.

For a while, it was more or less presumed that Klopp would face off against Alonso in the Dublin final, in a fixture which may even serve as the passing of the torch. But both of those dreams are now dead, with Liverpool out of the competition and Alonso staying at Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool did briefly threaten to revive its hopes of advancing. Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross was blocked with a hand inside five minutes, and Mohamed Salah stepped up to convert, giving the visitor a long time to find two goals — a far more manageable task.

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Riding a wave of momentum, Liverpool threatened to add another quickly, and Luis Díaz just couldn't quite get on the end of a neat Cody Gakpo flick to double the lead on the night moments later. The Reds' threat then died down a little, but they had the best of the first half, and had a golden chance to go in with a two-goal advantage when Salah was sent clean through on goal.

With the ball bouncing invitingly, Salah went to lob the onrushing goalkeeper. But he connected all wrong, shinning it well wide.

Credit to Atalanta and especially Gian Piero Gasperini, who regrouped at half-time and played their own part in changing the narrative for the second half. But for Liverpool's part, it seemed like the belief had been sucked out.

Klopp did everything in his power to change things up. Gakpo ended the game notionally at left-back to accommodate a last roll of the dice with Jayden Danns, after Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota had been introduced already. But rather than piling on the pressure, the goal threat seemed to diminish at the final whistle drew closer.

There was a painful contrast to what was unfolding in the other Europa League game under the watch of Alonso. Just like Liverpool, West Ham had scored early, and it only needed one more goal to force extra-time. It, too, was struggling to find it, but David Moyes was at least on the verge of finally ending Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten streak.

Yet for the umpteenth time this season, Alonso's charges refused to say die. Remember, they were going through anyway, but still they found the reserves to score a late equalizer. Leverkusen are astoundingly close to an unprecedented invincible campaign across all competitions, and their comebacks simply feel inevitable at this stage.

Liverpool certainly had that quality at its peak under Klopp. The title-winning season was full of similar moments. But it also seemed to have that kind of aura earlier this season. Kick-started by Núñez's unlikely brace against Newcastle, Liverpool got a reputation as a comeback king. Even now, Klopp boasts far more goals by substitutes than his league peers. But they have not come in recent weeks.

There was no danger of Núñez repeating his dramatic brace tonight, with the contrast striking. Jota could hardly get a kick. Even Danns, who turned the League Cup final and then scored an FA Cup brace, could barely affect things with his youthful eagerness.

More than anything else, that's what makes it hard to be too confident in a Premier League fairytale. If it is to happen, Liverpool needs to re-find that unshakeable mentality, and it could do worse than looking to Alonso for inspiration.

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Liverpool match verdict after the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta in Bergamo

Liverpool match verdict after the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta in Bergamo

At no point in the second half did Liverpool really look like it would put Atalanta under some true pressure in Bergamo. But at the same time, the damage as Jürgen Klopp's side quietly slid, rather than crashed, out of the Europa League, was mainly done a week ago at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah put Liverpool ahead from the penalty spot but he missed the best chance of the game at the Gewiss Stadium. When put through on goal, the Egyptian could only lift the ball wide when he looked certain to score. Had Salah made it 2-0 on the night, any Atalanta jitters would have been amplified — but the sixth-placed Serie A side was instead let off the hook.

"We won and we kept a clean sheet," Virgil van Dijk told TNT Sports post-match. "We played better than last week and there were many things to be positive [about]."

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And the Liverpool captain is right. While the Reds are out of the competition and have played their final match in Europe under Klopp, they also have six big Premier League matches left to fight for. The signs were there that they might be more winnable than they looked post-Cystal Palace.

Cody Gakpo was sharp and looked good, helping knit things together in the middle of the pitch. The Dutch forward should start again versus Fulham on Sunday and he has done more than enough to keep the shirt.

Trent Alexander-Arnold tired a lot in the second half but he showed his class in the first. Managing 70 minutes on his first start since getting injured two months ago, the full-back will have benefited from the extra action in his legs.

Alisson Becker, too, was superb, and showed the gulf between him and any other goalkeeper in world football. He was strong with his saves but impressed as an extra outfield player with the positions that he was taking up. Caoimhín Kelleher is very good but Alisson is on another level altogether.

With its first choice back five starting together for only the first time since August, it should be no surprise that Liverpool kept a clean sheet here. There is more improvement to be done in the final third but this was at least a step in the right direction.

In Gakpo, Alexander-Arnold and Alisson, three big players are back and will have benefited from the time on the field. "We are back to winning ways," Klopp said at the final whistle, and that is true.

If Liverpool is to win six out of six in the Premier League run-in — and make no mistake, that is what will be required to lift the trophy — it will need to build again from here. But this was a start; the exit from Europe remains a shock one, but for what happened a week ago rather than here.

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It has not been a vintage week for Premier League clubs in Europe, and that has caused some people to fall over themselves in a rush to become the first to announce English football’s latest crisis.

The full-time whistle had only just been blown at the Allianz Arena when memes flooded social media ridiculing Arsenal’s elimination by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals. Half an hour later, Erling Haaland’s request to skip extra time and penalties, due to fatigue, was mocked as the competition’s cup holders Manchester City fell to Real Madrid. Arsenal and City were on course to elevate their domestic rivalry to the continental stage in the semi-finals at the end of the month, and blew it.

Liverpool valiantly fought back against Atalanta in the Europa League’s last eight but could not overcome their 3-0 first-leg deficit, while it was a similar story for West Ham in their 3-1 aggregate defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.

It all means Aston Villa are the only English team into the semi-finals of any European competition this season after their dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Lille in the Europa Conference League. There will be no more talk about coefficient permutations in the nation’s pubs and around its dinner tables. The extra Champions League spots are surely now heading to Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A. No English side will be sneaking into that revamped competition in September via a fifth-placed finish domestically.

It would be too easy to paint this as a disaster for English football, or a sign that Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp have taken their eye off the ball as their teams battle each other for the Premier League title.

You could try to place blame on the top flight’s relentless schedule and the tight turnaround between games — which will be eased with the controversial announcement earlier on Thursday that FA Cup replays will be scrapped from next season. Lille and the Paris Saint-Germain were given a weekend’s rest between the two legs of their European quarter-finals by the French football authorities.

Though it is undoubtedly a factor, it has not prevented at least one English club from reaching the Champions League final in five of the past six editions. It is an easy excuse to throw around, which would be taken seriously if clubs had strongly opposed FIFA’s plans for an expanded Club World Cup in the United States next summer, or turned down money-spinning pre-season trips around the globe.

If anybody had cause for complaint it would be Atalanta, who drew 2-2 at home against Verona in Serie A on Monday night and hosted Liverpool 72 hours later.   

The beauty of knockout tournaments is that they spring up surprises and one stroke of luck or misfortune changes the balance of a tie.

All of City’s goals came from outside the box in their 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu in last week’s first leg. They had six shots on target for a combined xG (expected goals) figure, which measures the quality of their chances, of 0.8 according to Opta. In Wednesday evening’s return, they scored once from an xG of 2.7.

Others have forgotten Arsenal only returned to the Champions League this season following a six-year exile that included missing out on Europe altogether in 2021-22, yet they managed to reach its last eight for the first time since 2009-10. Arteta’s squad will learn from this experience.

Arsenal were beaten 1-0 in Munich on Wednesday evening (Michaela Stache/AFP via Getty Images)

They may not be the only ones to learn something.

Madrid are one of the biggest remaining cheerleaders for a European Super League. In the mind of their president Florentino Perez, it would bridge the gap between continental teams and the vast wealth of the Premier League. That’s the same Madrid who have won the Champions League five times in the past 10 years and on a record 14 occasions in total and are in the semis again now.

Bayern’s presence as their last-four opponents hardly suggests mainland Europe’s elite are struggling to keep up with their English rivals, especially as Barcelona only failed to progress past PSG because of their own incompetence on the pitch. 

This week was surely a sign that, at least on the field of play, these sides don’t need a Super League to help them compete with the Premier League’s big hitters.

That’s not to say much has really changed.

German football is not suddenly resurgent because they have two teams in the Champions League semi-finals — the first time that has happened since 2019-20, when RB Leipzig joined Bayern in the final four.

The tournament experience of Bayern gave them the edge over Arsenal but their 11-year grip on the Bundesliga title is over and they were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal, Germany’s FA Cup equivalent, by third-tier Saarbrucken in November. It has already been decided head coach Thomas Tuchel is leaving in the summer after little more than a year in the job, and their progress to the Champions League semi-finals barely papers over the cracks of an underwhelming season. 

Italy had two clubs in the Champions League semis last season, as Inter beat city rivals Milan to make the final. Yet Inter went out in the last 16 this time, on penalties against Atletico, while Milan finished third in their group to drop down into the Europa League (they were then knocked out of the Europa League by fellow Serie A side Roma). Nobody could accuse Inter of becoming a worse side than in 2022-23 — third in Serie A then, they are 14 points clear at the top now and poised to succeed Napoli as champions. 

There is a temptation to draw grand conclusions from these matches: Arsenal are ‘bottlers,’ Guardiola’s over-elaborate tactics are to blame for City only winning the Champions League once; Liverpool cannot handle the wave of emotions during Klopp’s final couple of months in charge.

The reality is far simpler, if hard to accept.

English clubs do not need to conduct a root and branch review.

Arsenal, City and Liverpool were all deservedly beaten but they will be back competing on the Champions League stage again next season. 

(Top photos: Getty Images)

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There is a temptation to draw grand conclusions from a week of bad results, but the reality is much more simple...

Liverpool player ratings and scores after the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta in Bergamo

Liverpool player ratings and scores after the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Atalanta in Bergamo

Another bad night for Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side defeated Atalanta in their Europa League quarter-final second leg but could not overturn the 3-0 deficit they racked up from a horrible first-leg performance at Anfield last week.

They got the dream start they needed courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s early penalty but despite an improved display, Atalanta did not buckle and they duly progressed to the semi-finals.

Here, we analyse the main talking points in Bergamo, as Liverpool face up to just having one competition to focus on in the final weeks of the season.

Can this side rouse themselves in the title race?

It was not so long ago that the stars appeared to be aligning for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool in their final months together. Alive in four competitions and among the favourites for each.

The Carabao Cup marked a first trophy collected in February but acts of self-sabotage brought a lamentable FA Cup exit at Manchester United, another competition has ended at the quarter-final stage with regrets.

And now there is just one thing left to chase. Six Premier League games remain for Liverpool to overtake Manchester City at the top of the table and something close to perfection is going to be needed if the title is to be wrestled back.

That currently looks beyond Klopp’s side. Too many chances are being wasted and this was another contest that fizzled out against an opponent that was deserving of its place in the semi-finals.

The Premier League trips to Fulham on Sunday and Everton next Wednesday have to bring maximum returns or the Klopp era will be destined to end in deflating fashion.

Phil Buckingham

Should Klopp consider resting Salah?

When you are searching for an evening of miracles in an attempt to overturn a 0-3 deficit, you typically want your best players on the field.

So, why was Mohamed Salah — Liverpool’s all-time leading goalscorer in Europe — substituted after 67 minutes with Liverpool just 1-0 up (1-3 down in the tie)? Salah’s penalty after seven minutes got Liverpool fans dreaming of an unlikely comeback but, in general play, he has not quite been looking himself in recent weeks.

That was crystallised towards the end of the first half when his attempted lob, after being set clear with only goalkeeper Juan Musso to beat, went awry.

Salah latches on to a ball over the top…

But his attempted lob comes off his shin…

… and bobbles well wide of goal.

A poorly executed finish when one-v-one is actually not uncommon for Salah, as we saw in the first half. He is a player who relies on high volume rather than deadly finishing — only four Premier League players average more shots than Salah’s 3.6 per 90 this season.

The more worrying sight is his diminishing threat in possession. Whether it is giving up the ball cheaply, running into trouble, or failing to make those devastating runs past the opposition full-back, things just are not quite right at the moment.

For Klopp, there are two obvious options. Keep starting Salah to allow him to regain his rhythm, or take the Egyptian out of the starting line-up in an attempt to rest him and reset his performances?

His standards have been so astronomical over the years, that anything below his elite heights has looked jarringly notable in recent games.

Mark Carey

What impact did Alexander-Arnold make?

Liverpool can count their blessings to have discovered Conor Bradley’s readiness to step up in 2024 but the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold has restored a lost dimension to Klopp’s side.

The right-back started his first game in over two months after recovering from his troublesome knee injury and his performance against Atalanta served as a reminder for what Liverpool have missed.

Trent Alexander-Arnold made a difference for Liverpool (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Alexander-Arnold was key to the purposeful start that offered up the promise of a comeback. As well as winning the early penalty that cast Liverpool a lifeline, his cross deflecting off the hand of Matteo Ruggeri, the England international showcased his enviable passing range to turn defence into attacks.

The 25-year-old remains a very modern right-back, drifting in field to collect possession, often between the two central defenders. Not every pass came off but his range troubled Atalanta, an opponent that had consistently caused problems for Bradley seven days earlier.

Alexander-Arnold was not perfect, which is forgivable given he had not come through 90 minutes since early January, but he did help take Atalanta to places they had hoped to avoid.

Phil Buckingham

How attack rotations worked for Liverpool

In Liverpool’s forgettable first leg at Anfield, a lot of the frustration in their performance was that they were not able to play their usual game due to Atalanta’s relentless man-marking.

Whatever the outcome of the second leg, Klopp was keen to ensure that they did not suffer the same frustration in Bergamo. To combat Atalanta’s out-of-possession approach, Liverpool rotated positions all over the pitch, dragging players into areas that they were not comfortable with in an attempt to open up spaces.

The Atalanta vs Liverpool match dashboard, showing the threat timeline, territory, match stats, shot maps and pass networks

We have grown accustomed to Alexander-Arnold drifting into central areas between the centre-backs or into midfield, but seeing Andrew Robertson play as a temporary forward was a rarity — and the approach worked for long periods.

Andy Robertson found himself playing centre-forward occasionally (Isabella Bonotto/AFP via Getty Images)

Most commonly, it was Liverpool’s front three who were switching positions across the pitch. Cody Gakpo started as the central forward but would frequently drift over to the left and rotate with Luis Diaz, while other times he would drop deep to flick the ball forward to the onrushing Diaz or Salah — who himself was picking up positions in central areas.

The rotations on the ball did sometimes mean that Liverpool were a little open themselves when losing possession, but the overall approach was streets ahead of their performance last Thursday.

Mark Carey

What did Klopp say?

The Liverpool manager was satisfied with his side’s performance in winning in Bergamo, but admitted the damage had been done in the first leg on Merseyside.

“It was clear we gave ourselves a massive hurdle,” he told TNT Sports, the UK broadcaster. “I liked the game a lot tonight with the desire and power the boys showed. If Trent Alexander-Arnold had been a bit fitter we could have gone a bit longer, but it is insane that he has even played! In the end he was running out of gas.

“We won the game and that was the reaction we wanted to show. It was difficult and we knew it would be but they deserve to go through 100 per cent.

“We have to focus on the league and that is exactly what we will do from now. Tonight we won the game so we are back to winning ways. We have a few days to recover to go again against Fulham. That will be a different game but it will be tricky.”

What next for Liverpool?

Sunday, April 21: Fulham (A), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET

Liverpool know they simply cannot afford any more slip-ups in the Premier League title race, so the pressure is on for the trip to Craven Cottage on Sunday. Fulham have proved awkward opponents in their three meetings with Klopp’s team this season — including two in the Carabao Cup semi-finals — but the Londoners have not beaten Liverpool on home soil since 2011.

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(Top photo: Isabella Bonotto/AFP via Getty Images)

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GEWISS STADIUM, BERGAMO// Liverpool knew it had left itself a mountain to climb after a 3-0 reversal at Anfield. But it travelled to take on Atalanta buoyed by memories of famous European comebacks of old, with Jürgen Klopp certainly not minded to give up.

A three-goal deficit was quickly sliced down to two from the penalty spot, further swelling belief. But the 12-yard test told us little about whether Liverpool had overcome the finishing woes that have dogged recent fixtures.

When Mohamed Salah passed up a glorious opportunity to make it two, shinning his attempted chip horribly wide, a familiar fear crept in. That would have put Liverpool just a goal away from forcing extra time with more than 45 minutes to find it, but Atalanta held onto its safety net, and the Reds struggled to displace it.

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The big disappointment for Liverpool will be that it ultimately failed even to make it too nervy for Atalanta, as Klopp's time in Europe with Liverpool ended in hollow victory. Here are the four things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.

Salah gesture comes to nothing

It was the perfect start for Liverpool, as it was always going to have to be to give the Reds a chance. Instead of falling behind early, as has been an infuriating trend this season, the visitor was awarded a penalty inside five minutes.

For a brief moment, it looked like Alexis Mac Allister might step up, having been the taker in Mohamed Salah's absence. But the Egyptian took on the responsibility of the pressure kick.

Seemingly nerveless, Salah slotted the penalty away with no fuss. And his reaction spoke volumes.

There was no celebration whatsoever. Salah almost chased after his penalty in order to fish the ball out of the net and rush it back to the center circle. Liverpool hasn't looked especially recognizable in the last couple of games, but Klopp's mentality monsters seemed to be back on show here from the off.

Yet there was a fragility to it. For a while, Liverpool threatened to turn one into two and make things really interesting, but the opening just wouldn't quite come. And when it did fall to Salah, and he skewed it wide, some of that belief seemed to evaporate.

Alisson the spare man

In a repeat of his League Cup 2022 decision, Klopp opted to field Alisson in Caoimhín Kelleher's competition, with his number one still on his way back to full sharpness. But to be fair, the Brazilian looked plenty sharp enough here.

He was forced to showcase that to prevent a Virgil van Dijk own goal shortly after Liverpool had taken the lead. The offside flag eventually went up anyway, but Alisson wasn't to know that as he changed direction brilliantly, clawing the ball away from the line.

Meanwhile, he had an interesting role in possession. How much was in the game-plan only he and the coaches know, with Klopp seemingly urging him back to his goal at one point, but Alisson regularly stepped out with the ball, even approaching the center circle on one occasion.

With Atalanta's man-marking, Alisson was the spare man, putting the spotlight on his distribution. And while Trent Alexander-Arnold was unmatched in his ability to spray it around, the goalkeeper played his part too, with another side of his ridiculously well-rounded game coming to the fore.

Klopp's subs speak volumes

It was always likely that Klopp would look to the bench at some point. The game was threatening to go flat with 25 minutes to play, and it seemed an astute time to go to the bench.

On came Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota. They replaced Salah and Luis Díaz.

Most would have expected Cody Gakpo to be one of those who made way. But on a night where Liverpool deployed a highly fluid front three to try and shake off the man-marking shackles, the Dutchman knitted everything together really nicely.

Gakpo nearly released Díaz with a beautiful flick in the first half, and there were plenty of cute moments like that in tight spaces. He looked like one of the few who could really punish Atalanta for getting so tight.

It was a big statement for Klopp to leave Gakpo on and withdraw Salah. But right now, he probably is the form forward, and this was another encouraging outing for a player who was coming in for heavy criticism a few weeks ago.

A nod to the new era

There's no escaping it. This was a flat way for Klopp to bow out of European competition with Liverpool, having thrice taken it to the Champions League final.

But the introduction of Jayden Danns was a nice touch. Klopp turned to the youngster to try and find a route to goal, make no mistake, but it was also symbolic.

Danns is already good enough to be trusted in situations like these. But for the next manager, he could end up being a truly key figure, along with any number of promising youth talent. There's disappointment now, but the future is bright.

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