After losing the first leg of the Europa League 3-0 a week ago, Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Atalanta on Thursday night proved insufficient to keep the Reds in the competition.

In 2019, the Reds achieved an incredible victory over Barcelona in the Champions League, but this time it was not to be. After winning the Carabao Cup earlier, Jurgen Klopp’s farewell as manager will now be entirely focused on the Premier League title fight.

The damage had already been done to Liverpool at Anfield, as the advantage that Atalanta had established in the earlier game was barely impacted by an early penalty kick from Mohamed Salah. All things considered, this was a contest that never really took off despite constant threats to be exciting and thrilling to watch.

The course of the game

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s early penalty, which he gained just five minutes in, gave Liverpool the early advantage they needed to preserve their hopes of advancing from their 3-0 aggregate disadvantage. When Salah’s cross struck Matteo Ruggeri’s arm following an overhit ball from the opposing flank, the referee signaled the spot and Salah promptly obliged.

If Juan Musso hadn’t hurried off his line to parry a shot from Luis Diaz in the home goal, Liverpool might have had a quick second. Alisson’s quick reactions were needed to block Teun Koopmeiners’ deflected cross, indicating that the Reds couldn’t afford to be overly aggressive; an eventual offside flag would have eliminated the goal anyhow.

As the first half went on, Atalanta became more and more comfortable with the ball as they waited for Liverpool to make mistakes and launch quick counterattacks. Gianluca Scamacca and Aleksei Miranchuk were both proving to be handfuls for the Reds’ back four. On the other hand, Liverpool was guilty on multiple times of overplaying it or making a poor final pass, which allowed plays to break down before a legitimate opportunity could be created.

In the last moments before halftime, Salah wasted a fantastic opportunity when he raced onto Cody Gakpo’s measured pass over the top. However, the attempted lob over Musso was awkwardly deflected off his ankle rather than his foot and went harmlessly wide. Ibrahima Konate’s last-minute decision to step up was crucial in the goal not counting. Atalanta’s dangerous Koopmeiners had the ball in the net almost immediately, only to see the flag go up.

When Atalanta applied more pressure in the second half, Ederson’s feeble shot was easily gathered, and a stronger finish would have tied the score for the hosts. At the hour mark, the Brazilian demonstrated strong and secure hands as he held onto a fierce low strike from Koopmeiners, which was created when Gakpo lost the ball.

Due to Liverpool’s growing weariness, Klopp decided to make three substitutions in an attempt to give the team some new life in the last twenty-five minutes. In the end, it didn’t really make a difference, and since Atalanta was more adept at controlling the game, the tie got farther and farther away.

Player ratings for Liverpool (4-3-3)

GK: Alisson  – 8/10 Not very noteworthy, but a few crucial saves helped Liverpool stay afloat in the match and guaranteed they still had a chance to pull off a comeback.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10 Not particularly impressive defensively, but he provided some inventiveness and offensive drive when he was back in the starting lineup.

CB: Virgil van Dijk (c) – 6/10 – Just moments in, seemed to have a dislocated finger, but he breezed through.

CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6/10 His choice to step up, which led to Koopmeiners being offside while sending the ball into the net, may have been the product of some really clever defending or just plain bad luck, but it kept Atalanta from breaking the tie in the first half.

LB: Andrew Robertson, who finished with a 6/10, faced former Chelsea wide back Davide Zappacosta, who proved to be a useful outlet for Atalanta.

CM: Dominik Szoboszlai – 5/10 – Didn’t make the kind of impression that was needed, especially because Liverpool was chasing the tie.

CM: 5/10 for Alexis Mac Allister Because of Atalanta’s pressing and work off the ball, his inventiveness decreased. Frequently forced to make long passes or sideways passes, or lose it altogether.

CM: Curtis Jones – 7/10 – His accuracy was extremely high overall, but he unnecessarily invited Atalanta counters with a few careless passes in the first half. likewise won the ball back a lot.

RW: Mohamed Salah – 5/10 – Made easy work of the early penalty, but his overall play lacked both quality and confidence. It was all summed up by a careless miss late in the first half, and even though Liverpool needed more goals, Klopp decided to take him off well before the conclusion.

ST: Cody Gakpo – 6/10 – Showed some nice touches in and around the box, but he didn’t see enough ball play and when it did, it frequently didn’t stick like the “number nine.”

LW: Luis Diaz – 6/10 shown a strong desire to cause trouble, but the defense eventually marshaled him well, and he was unable to make things happen.

Replacements: Diogo Jota (67′ in place of Diaz) – 5/10

SUB: Harvey Elliott – 6/10 (67′ for Szoboszlai)

6/10 for Darwin Nunez (67′ for Salah)

Substitute: Joe Gomez (72′ for Arnold) – 5 out of 10.

Jayden Danns (80′ for Robertson) as the substitute

Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), Adrian (GK), Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch, Kostas Tsimikas, Jarell Quansah, and Bobby Clark were the substitutes who did not play.

Jurgen Klopp, manager – 5/10 hoped to use the memories of 2019 versus Barcelona going into this one, but his team lacked the essential bite and energy. Substitution had minimal impact on the situation.

Player of the game: Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners