It’s been a surprising defeat for Liverpool at Anfield. Anfield has been a fortress for Liverpool, and they have not lost a single game at their home ground for the last 14 months. But Atalanta humiliated Liverpool last night at Anfield and confirmed Liverpool’s first defeat in 14 months at Anfield.
Following their dramatic draw against Manchester United in the Premier League, Liverpool welcomed Italian club Atalanta in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarterfinal. As the home side, Liverpool were the favorite in this match, but Atalanta outplayed the home side and secured a dominating 3-0 win at Anfield.
Match Report
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp made six changes compared to the squad that played against Manchester United. He set up the team formation with 4-3-3, where Darwin Nunez led Liverpool’s attack along with Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliot. Meanwhile, Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini played his team in an attacking 3-4-1-2 formation against Liverpool.
The match started with Liverpool dominating the visitors at Anfield, keeping more possession under them. The home side had a ton of chances but failed to convert. The real opportunity came when Darwin Nunez found Atalanta’s goalkeeper one-on-one, but he failed to defeat the goalkeeper to find the net.
Eventually, Atalanta became stable on the pitch and started creating chances. They made the home fans silence when Gianluca Scamacca scored just before halftime. Scamacca converted Zappacosta’s brilliant cross into a goal to put Atalanta ahead in the 38th minute.
As Liverpool were desperate to win the match, Jurgen Klopp deployed Mohammad Salah, Andrew Robertson, and Dominik Szoboszlai from the start of the second half. However, Atalanta didn’t give them a chance and kept pushing for another goal. The visitors doubled their lead when Gianluca Scamacca completed his brace in the 60th minute. Once again, Liverpool failed to defend crosses from Atalanta, from which Scamacca scored again for the visitors.
The result could be different when Mo Salah scored for Liverpool in the 80th minute. But his goal was ruled out due to an offside, which was a massive relief for Atalanta. Additionally, Atalanta killed the game two minutes later when midfielder Mario Pasalic scored with a tap-in in the 83rd minute.
Liverpool, however, failed to score any goal in the remaining minutes, resulting in Atalanta securing a dominating 3-0 win over Liverpool. This massive defeat has made Liverpool’s hope for the Europa League semifinal more difficult. They need to win the second leg with a four-goal margin at Stadio Atleti Azzurri to qualify for the semifinal.
