Liverpool were eliminated from the Europa League despite beating Atalanta 1-0 in Bergamo, with all the damage done in the first leg, as they fell to a 3-1 aggregate score.

The Reds, knowing they had a mountain to climb, came flying out the traps and enjoyed the perfect start seven minutes in when Mo Salah converted from the penalty spot to raise hopes of a historic comeback.

Salah was then guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance to reduce the deficit again in the first half, attempting to loop an effort over Juan Musso from Cody Gakpo’s teasing through ball, blasting disappointingly wide.

Jurgen Klopp had urged his players, summoning memories from the Barcelona fightback of 2019, to “fail in the most beautiful way” and while some of their play in the opening half – driven by the returning Trent Alexander-Arnold – was compelling it brought only one goal. Not close to being enough.

Liverpool’s well-documented wastefulness appears to be haunting them wherever they go, with the result compounding a particularly damaging few weeks, Klopp’s frustration clearly aimed at the way his side threw away the contest at Anfield a week ago.

Liverpool have now crashed out of the FA Cup to rivals Manchester United, lost ground to leaders Manchester City in the title race, and exited Europe to Serie A’s sixth-placed side all within a month – leaving Klopp’s dream farewell hanging by a thread.

Source – Atalanta 0 – 1 Liverpool – Match Report & Highlights (skysports.com)

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