Liverpool 0-3 Atalanta: Player ratings as Reds suffer shock Anfield thrashing
Liverpool's Europa League hopes have been left hanging by a thread after a shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of the sides' quarter-final tie.
A brace from former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca and a further strike from Mario Pasalic condemned the Reds to their first loss at Anfield since February 2023, when they were beaten by Real Madrid.
And, barring a miraculous comeback in Bergamo, dreams of Jurgen Klopp capping his final season in charge with a European trophy look to be dead.
The raft of changes made by manager Klopp suggested he felt Liverpool might be in for a straightforward evening, but any such illusions were dashed early doors.
That was because it was the Italians who created the first big chance of the game as Pasalic forced Caoimhin Kelleher into an unorthodox save with his head when he should really have finished from close range.
Liverpool responded well, with Alexis Mac Allister driving over from a Harvey Elliott cutback before Darwin Nunez hit an effort straight at Juan Musso and then dinked a one-on-one chance wide.
And when Elliott hit both the crossbar and the inside of the post with a curling attempt from just inside the box, it seemed a matter of time until Liverpool scored.
However, the Reds' failure to take their chances was punished soon after, Davide Zappacosta making full use of space on the right flank to cutback for Scamacca to pass the ball under Kelleher.
With the scoreline unchanged at half-time, Klopp looked to his bench, introducing Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson in a bid to change things.
It looked like that might work as Liverpool created a string of opportunities, with a Salah shot into the hands of Musso and a poor Nunez strike from close range the best
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