Atalanta see off Liverpool

Despite starting the game well and getting a much-needed early goal, Liverpool hit a Bergamasci brick wall as Atalanta saw out a famous victory to knock the six-time European champions out in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League. 

LINEUPS

ATA XI: Juan Musso; Djimsiti, Hien, Kolasinac; Zappacosta, De Roon*, Ederson, Ruggeri; Miranchuk, Koopmeiners; Scamacca

ATA SUBS: Carnesecchi, Rossi, Rafael Toloi, Holm, Hateboer, Bakker, Bonfanti, Pasalic, Adopo, De Ketalaere, Toure, Lookman

LIV XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk*, Robertson; Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Gakpo, Luis Diaz

LIV SUBS: Adrian, Kelleher, Quansah, Gomez, Tsimikas, Endo, Gravenberch, Clark, Elliott, Diogo Jota, Danns, Darwin Nunez

Action: Liverpool needed to start fast and on the front foot in Bergamo and they did so, getting an early reward, too, to pull a goal back in their three-goal deficit.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross was blocked by Matteo Ruggeri’s hand and the referee pointed to the spot before a needlessly long Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check. Mohamed Salah stepped and emphatically but the Reds into the lead on the night.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">⌚️ 7 minutes in...<br><br>Atalanta 0-1 Liverpool (3-1 agg)<br><br>They couldn&#39;t, could they? 👀 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UEL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UEL</a> <a href="https://t.co/dA10wRuMLM">pic.twitter.com/dA10wRuMLM</a></p>&mdash; Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) <a href="https://twitter.com/footballontnt/status/1781038134261690863?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The visitors’ fast start continued a few minutes later when Luis Diaz was slotted through but the Colombian had his toe poked effort smothered by Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso.

Atalanta then came into the game and very nearly levelled on the night with a cross very nearly diverted in by Virgil van Dijk but Alisson reacted well to save.

Atalanta then gave Liverpool another warning before half-time when Teun Koopmeiners finished well past Alisson but the Dutchman had strayed offside beforehand. 

A very even and actually, frankly, quite dull second-half gave little thrill or joy to the neutral with the best chances actually coming for the hosts. 

Both Ederson and Teun Koopmeiners had good chances for the hosts but both were well saved by Alisson, who was excellent in the Reds’ goal.

Liverpool barely got into a mode where they were huffing and puffing and it ended up being a comfortable aggregate victory for the Italians to see out. 

EVENTS

Kick-off

‘6 | GOAL: Salah (0-1)

’40 | DISALLOWED: Koopmeiners

Half-time

Full-time