The match between Liverpool and Atalanta in the quarter-final first leg at Anfield was a deeply disappointing night for the home team. Despite being expected to perform well, Liverpool suffered a shocking defeat, with Atalanta running out 3-0 winners.
The game was characterized by some dreadful defending from Liverpool, which was ruthlessly exploited by the Italian side. Former West Ham forward Gianluca Scamacca was the hero of the night for Atalanta, scoring two goals to put the visitors in control.
The first goal came in the 38th minute when Scamacca’s low drive was allowed to creep under Liverpool’s goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Liverpool had a chance to equalize when Mohamed Salah, who started on the bench, forced a fine save from visiting keeper Juan Musso, but it was not to be.
Atalanta doubled their lead on the hour mark through Scamacca, who was left unmarked and finished crisply past Kelleher. Liverpool had chances to get back into the game, but Darwin Nunez missed two big opportunities, while Harvey Elliott’s curling attempt struck the bar before hitting the post.
The Reds’ misery was compounded in the dying minutes of the game when ex-Chelsea midfielder Mario Pasalic added a third goal for the visitors. Pasalic took advantage of some poor defending from Liverpool to score after Ederson was given too much space to shoot and Kelleher made a save that rebounded to the Croatian, who made no mistake.
With this defeat, Liverpool now faces a huge challenge to stay in the Europa League. They will need to produce a much better performance in next Thursday’s return leg in Bergamo if they hope to progress to the semi-finals.
