Liverpool handed quiet Europa League hope as Atalanta complaints made

Liverpool have it all to do to turn around a three-goal deficit when they travel to Atalanta for their Europa League quarter-final second leg on Thursday night.

The Reds put in a dismal performance as they fell to a shock 3-0 defeat at Anfield last week to leave them on the verge of a premature exit, having previously been the favourites to win the competition.

Had they suffered such a defeat away from home with the second leg instead taking place at Anfield, those of a Reds persuasion would be feeling a lot more confident regarding the possibility of an unlikely comeback. Liverpool have done it countless times before, after all, with a ‘corner taken quickly’ against Barcelona in 2019 the most famous example.

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But having to travel to Italy and win by three goals just to force extra-time is a lot more daunting.

Atalanta have lost just three of their 20 matches at the Gewiss Stadium this season, keeping 10 clean sheets and conceding only 15 goals. Meanwhile, they only lost by one goal in each of those three defeats to Bologna, Napoli, and Inter Milan.

You have to go back to November 2022 for the last time they conceded three times at home, in a 3-2 defeat to Inter Milan, while they haven't lost by three goals in front of their home fans since a 4-1 loss to AS Roma in December 2021. That is the only time they have suffered such a hefty loss since Liverpool's own 5-0 victory at the Gewiss Stadium behind closed doors back in November 2020.

But before you get ready to wave the white flag, all is not lost. Atalanta have perhaps given the Reds a glimmer of hope