Key events
90 min: Three added minutes. It does seem that from some emails in my inbox that a few of you are not devastated by the prospect of going out of the Europa League, in order to concentrate on the league.
88 min: Atalanta make their first change, at 88 minutes. De Ketelaere off for Miranchuk. The visitors are sticking to the game plan.
85 min: This isn’t a weak Liverpool XI. This isn’t a smash-and-grab. Atalanta have been the better side. Diaz shoots at goal, saved by Musso. That’s just the fourth shot on target Liverpool have had all night. Just as at Old Trafford, some really poor finishing and defending has let them down.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-3 Atalanta (Palisic 83)
Oh. My. Days. It’s three! Liverpool lose the ball in their own half, Scamacca slips a brilliant ball through to Ederson. The Brazilian has his shot saved by Kelleher but Palisic is there to tuck home the rebound! Where was Liverpool’s defence? Completely static.
81 min: Chance for Scamacca! The striker could have had a hat-trick. From a free-kick, Koopmeiners crosses to the back post, it is flicked across goal but Scamacca heads over from under the crossbar!
GOAL DISALLOWED FOR LIVERPOOL!
79 min: Salah puts the ball in the net, but he grimaces as the flag goes off for offside! It is checked by VAR, and confirmed as offside. It was close though and Ruggeri actually gave Salah a little push back towards his own goal, which meant Salah was half-a-yard offside. It was a brilliant move, with Robertson breaking forward from left back and crossing low for Salah at the back post. But it remains 0-2 to the visitors.
76 min: Jota comes on for Endo. A change in shape for Liverpool. Jota has an immediate impact, skinning Ruggeri as he drove into the Atalanta box. Foul! But it’s just outside the area. Szoboszlai stands over the free-kick, but again it’s a poor delivery and Gomez needlessly blasts a long range shot over the bar, when he had better options.
74 min: I wonder if Alexander-Arnold will also come on in place of Gomez, as Liverpool chase the game.
“Am I the only Liverpool fan whose not too excited – maybe even a little worried – about TAA coming back?” asks Paul O’Reilly. “We’ve been grand without him. Where we’ve been lacking is the inability of the front 3 to score goals! (28 shots against MUFC – barely drew 2-2!) With TAA comes an extra chink in our armour! (HE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR OUR DEFENSE!) He comes back into our defence, we leak even more goals than we already are and we don’t win anything else this season.”
72 min: Nothing is happening for Liverpool. No urgency. Diaz has gone to the right wing in an attempt to ‘mix things up’. Hmmm. Diogo Jota is getting ready on the sidelines.
68 min: Some more emails on Nunez/the art of finishing.
“Yes. High-risk finishes and that,” emails Matt Dony. “I’ve often banged this particular drum when players have gone for ridiculous outside-of-the-boot stuff. Now, don’t get me wrong, a ball played off the outside of the boot can be one of the most aesthetically pleasing actions in football, whether it’s a dinky chip or a swerving drive. But it’s incredibly hard to do. And often, it would make more sense for the players to simply use their weak foot. These guys spend their life practicing football. There is no excuse not to be reasonable consistent with their weaker foot. I know it makes me a killjoy of the highest order, but hey, we play the hand we’re dealt!”
And I have no way of verifying this anecdote from Kev McCready, but it’s a decent tale.
“I am reminding of the LFC player who missed a sitter, Bob Paisley asked him ‘What happened to you, you useless bastard?’
‘Didn’t know what my options were’ The player replied.
‘Well, the next time you’re in that situation, put it in the back of the fuckin’ net and afterwards we’ll discuss them’”.
66 min: Atalanta are coasting. At present they look the more likely to score, and seem able to contain Liverpool’s attacks with their low-ish block. Liverpool are resorting to aimlessly crossing the ball, and Gakpo – who has done almost nothing since moving to striker – is struggling to get on the end of anything. This is a Gasperini masterclass.
64 min: It should be 3-0! De Roon cleverly disguises a reverse pass to Koopmeiners, who is all alone in Liverpool’s box, but the in-form Dutchman screws his shot wide of the post! He should have scored!
63 min: Scamacca shows Nunez how it’s done. It was a brilliant, relaxed, simple finish. A reminder that the striker didn’t get into the latest Italy squad because of a lack of focus and a video game addiction. He’s by no means the finished article. But my word, the boy has got talent.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-2 Atalanta (Scamacca 61)
Atalanta double their lead! I was just going to praise Robertson for having a big impact since coming on but De Ketelaere gets in behind the Scotland left-back, floats a inch-perfect pass to Scamacca in the box. The Italian is completely unmarked, and could take a touch, but nonchalantly sidefoots a half-volley into the corner. Kelleher had no chance!
59 min: Liverpool make their fourth change: Nunez off for Diaz, who has been bang in form of late.
56 min: Two great chances for Liverpool! They are motoring in their attempts to find an equaliser. Firstly, Nunez does brilliantly to retrieve a lost cause, wins the ball back on the byline and cuts it back to Salah. The Egyptian’s first shot is blocked but he forces Musso into a brilliant save at the near post with his second effort. Next, Nunez is the man to find some space in the area, but he scoops/spoons a shot over. Completely off balance. He’s had a bad evening thus far.
55 min: Endo handballs right on the edge of Liverpool’s box, and Atalanta have a great dead-ball chance wide right. Koopmeiners smacks one low and hard, possibly hoping to get a deflection, but Kelleher collects it cleanly under pressure.
54 min: Nice little stat: Liverpool substitutes have contributed 49 goal contributions this season, by far and away the best return of any team in Europe’s top five leagues. So expect those three subs to have some sort of impact.
52 min: Another corner for Liverpool, who have definitely started this second half reinvigorated. The cross from Robertson is a good one, but Van Dijk heads over! He saw it late and was crowded but is disappointed. It was a decent chance.
50 min: “Re Nunez and his little dinky finishes, I wish someone would sit him down with some tapes of Rush, Fowler, Owen,” emails Alex Welby. “There’s no need to be clever about it. Just score.”
49 min: Szoboszlai takes aim from range – he can hit them – but Hien gets out to block. Corner to Liverpool, but it’s a wayward one from Szoboszlai, too deep.
47 min: Klopp was out early, before his team emerged from the second half. He obviously said his piece and left.
Peeeeeeeep! We’re underway again. Liverpool have made three subs: Salah on for Elliott, Szoboszlai on for Jones and Robertson on for Tsimikas.
Half-time scores in the Europa League quarter-finals
Liverpool 0-1 Atalanta
Leverkusen 0-0 West Ham
Milan 0-1 Roma
Benfica 1-0 Marseille
Also, in the Conference League, it’s Aston Villa 1-0 Lille.
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Liverpool 0-1 Atalanta
If Kelleher made a mistake for the goal, he made up for it with that save. Klopp jogs down the tunnel, he has work/words to do/have in the Liverpool dressing room.
45+1 min: A huuuuuuuge chance for Koopmeiners! Oh, it really should be 2-0 to Atalanta. Gomez, in that right-back/midfield hybrid role, loses the ball to Palisic in midfield. It’s a really bad error with the Reds’ defence completely disjointed to cover the empty right back slot. What that means is that Koopmeiners is completely free on Atalanta’s right. He has oceans of space to break into but takes a heavy touch and doesn’t see Kelleher approaching and the Liverpool keeper makes an excellent save, spreading himself Schmeichel-style.
45 min: One minute added on.
44 min: A really loose pass from Tsimikas invites further pressure onto Liverpool. After a bright first 25 minutes, the hosts have faded badly in this first half.
42 min: The Atalanta fans are doing the Poznan in the away end. It is deathly quiet throughout the rest of Anfield.
40 min: Liverpool have had the better of the game but there were warning signs. The goal was nearly a carbon copy of the move earlier in the game, when Zappacosta cut the ball back to Koopmeiners. But Liverpool got the block in on that occasion.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Atalanta (Scamacca 38)
Atalanta beat the press and suddenly Liverpool are exposed. Koopmeiners dinks a lovely little ball down the line to the completely unmarked Zappacosta, who races to the byline unchallenged, cuts the ball back to Scamacca on the penalty spot, and the former West Ham man passes a first-time finish past Kelleher! Ooooooh, the Liverpool keeper should have done better!
35 min: Just want to say that Gakpo is really having an excellent game. And you can’t say that too often since his move in 2023.
33 min: Another lull. Sorry to go back to that Nunez finish at Brentford (14 mins), but I thought Michael Owen spoke/tweeted really well on it, back in February. Owen, a master of the one-on-one in his day, can be really insightful on these things. And not so on others.
That finish from Darwin Nunez yesterday was insane. I can’t stop watching it. And I can’t begin to explain how difficult a skill that is. Moving at pace, the ball running away from you, being inside the box with no room for error. Incredible. BUT, it is also further proof that if…
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) February 18, 2024
31 min: Atalanta are beginning to struggle with Liverpool’s press. They lose the ball in midfield, and Elliott is completely free to run through goal on the counter attack, but the pass from Jones is too strong, and the move breaks down.
29 min: Nunez gets to the byline, crosses (wildly) and Jones picks up the loose ball on the left. He tries a curler of his own, not dissimilar to Elliott’s, but it bends just over.
27 min: I was just going to talk about Elliott at right wing. I think by Klopp playing him there, Liverpool can keep the tactics they would normally apply for Salah playing there. Elliott is not as quick as Salah, but his work rate defensively is higher. And obviously the Englishman’s technical ability is excellent.
25 min: Elliott hits the crossbar and the post with a lovely curler! Atalanta’s Hien was booked for a free kick right on the edge of Atalanta’s box, and from the cross the ball comes out to Elliott, who sets himself, and bends a brilliant shot towards the top corner. It hits the underside of the bar, his the post and bounces out!
22 min: Kudos to the Atalanta fans in the away end. They are going absolutely bonkers. Nothing much is happening in the match, mind. Our first lull in play.
20 min: Aston Villa have taken the lead against Lille in the Conference League. It’s currently goalless between Leverkusen and West Ham.
16 min: This is an exciting, confusing game. I’m not sure who has edged it so far.
14 min: Back come Liverpool. This is a fantastic game! Jones finds a pocket of room in midfield and glides a beautiful through ball into Nunez’s path. The striker is clean through and chooses the dink, but completely skews it wide. He could have rolled it in, gone around Musso, or smashed it past the goalkeeper. A really poor finish. If you remember the goal against Brentford, where he chose a really difficult dink rather than a better percentage finish (although in fairness, he pulled it off with aplomb), then this shows what can happen when things go wrong.
12 min: A really nice move from the visitors, who are increasingly taking charge of this game. Zappacosta gets some room down the right, crosses low to the near post. De Ketelaere receives it back to goal, turns a naughty little flick back to Koopmeiners on the penalty spot, but the Dutchman’s shot is desperately blocked by a red shirt. Koopmeiners picks up the loose ball, feeds Scamacca on the edge of the area, but the Italian fails to take an easy ball under control. That could have been a golden chance if he had got it under!
9 min: An email from Andy Flintoff (not that one).
“I don’t like the recent journalistic style that every increase, no matter the size, is a ‘hike’. Whether a 2% increase counts as a large increase is debatable, but football, particularly at the top levels, is way overpriced, and this will just make it less affordable. However, there will be thousands of people ready to buy tickets if no local can, so clubs will do this, and they won’t lose any money.”
In answer to that, I would say that the increase/hike is a choice. They don’t have to price working-class fans out of Anfield. Compared to the amount of money the club receives from TV revenue, this means almost nothing to the club. But it means a lot to supporters. And Liverpool’s lack of consultation over a rise that comes amid a cost of living crisis and record commercial revenues at the club.
7 min: Gakpo, who looks like he’s playing as an No 8 tonight, rather than a left winger or striker, is in the mood. He breaks two, three challenges in midfield, drives forward and wins a free kick. That’s the sort of direct running that got him the move from PSV.
5 min: What an open game we have here! Twice Liverpool break forward inside a minute. Nunez finds space on the left but is well shepherded into shooting from an acute angle, which Musso gobbles up. Next Elliott gets to the byline, cuts the ball back and Mac Allister, under heavy pressure, skies it over.
4 min: Huge chance for Atalanta! De Roon is in on Elliott strongly, probably a foul, but the referee waves play on. It falls to Palisic in the box, a glorious chance, but Kelleher saves it with his face! What a save! Magnificent.
2 min: Some neat passing from Liverpool eventually finds Nunez on the edge of the box, but the Uruguayan can’t get it out of his feet and Hien gets a challenge in before Musso cleans up.
Peeeeeeeeep!
And we’re off at Anfield.
You’ll Never Walk Alone is belted out, although the flags are indeed missing from the Kop. The teams are out. Liverpool in their famous red (and white trim), Atalanta in their away white strip. Why on earth aren’t they wearing blue and black?!
Jürgen Klopp speaks!
We need to be ready for second-ball fights. The more we press, the more they will go long. Then we need to be ready.
We know they will have a ‘compact’ block. Five at the back, three and two and then they will look to move on the counter.
We need to have fresh legs but keep the rhythm where we can. We have to invest a lot, go for them. I’m happy with the line-up, happy with the options on the bench. We’ll see if we can use them.
A reminder that this is Liverpool’s 50th match this season.
A shame that the build-up to this game has been dominated by Liverpool’s plan to hike ticket prices. There will be no flags on the Kop for this match after Spion Kop 1906, the supporters’ group that organises the displays at Anfield, voiced its disapproval.
There are three other Europa League quarter-finals happening tonight, and every single one is enthralling.
Milan v Roma
Benfica v Marseille
… and Bayer Leverkusen v West Ham, which you can follow live here with Will Unwin.
The teams!
Neither side are messing about but there are a few changes: Diaz and Salah are rested, Tsimikas comes in for Robertson. The Reds are strengthened by the return of Alexander-Arnold, Bajcetic and Jota on the bench.
Atalanta make a host of changes since Saturday’s game at Cagliari. Pasalic, De Ketelaere, Hien, Ruggeri, Musso all come into the XI.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Jones, Mac Allister, Endo, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo.
Subs: Diaz, Szoboszlai, Salah, Adrian, Jota, Robertson, Gravenberch, Clark, Bajcetic, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Bradley.
Atalanta: Musso, Zappacosta, Djimsiti, Hien, Ruggeri, Ederson Silva, De Roon, Pasalic, Koopmeiners, Scamacca, De Ketelaere.
Subs: Toloi, Holm, Toure, Lookman, Bakker, Adopo, Carnesecchi, Rossi, Hateboer, Bonfanti, Miranchuk.
Preamble
This is the first proper European test for Liverpool. A much changed and weakened side fell to a sloppy defeat away at Toulouse in the Europa League group stage, but the Reds still qualified as group winners. You may have noticed this is Jürgen Klopp’s final season in charge of Liverpool, and everyone connected with the club is desperate to see him go out on a high. The Premier League, League Cup and Europa League treble would not match that of Manchester City last year, but … it’s not bad, is it?
In Liverpool’s way are Atalanta, who are a formidable opponent by anyone’s reckoning. The Champions League regulars have also fallen into the second European tier this season but were unbeaten winners of their own group – ahead of much-heralded Sporting Lisbon – and lie sixth in Serie A, still very much in the hunt for the top four and ahead of last year’s winners, Napoli.
They are not a team full of superstars , perhaps even lacking a talisman. Instead, players who have been cast aside by other clubs have been polished and coached into something collectively dangerous. Gianluca Scamacca, Ademola Lookman, Charles De Ketelaere have all previously failed to impress after big moves, but are finding their feet here in the blue and black. Marten de Roon, Mario Pasalic, Davide Zappacosta are all quietly impressive, proven internationals, while Teun Koopmeiners is having a brilliant season, with 10 goals since the turn of the year, and has been linked with Manchester United, Juventus and … Liverpool. Some are suggesting that he is currently the best midfielder in Italy.
So, this should be a good’un. The first of two legs, with a European semi-final at stake.
Kick-off: 8pm BST, 8pm in Bergamo.
