Liverpool were knocked out of the Europa League at the quarter-final stage on a 3-1 aggregate by Atalanta.
Mohamed Salah’s seventh-minute penalty raised hopes that Jürgen Klopp’s team could overturn the three-goal deficit they faced from the first meeting at Anfield, but it wasn’t enough as they bow out of Europe in Jurgen Klopp’s final season.
Salah spurned a great chance to make it 2-0 on the night shortly before half-time, but the momentum Liverpool built up during a dominant first-half performance dissipated after the interval.
Elimination means the Reds’ sole focus for the remaining weeks of the season is the Premier League title race, with Sunday’s trip to Fulham next on the agenda.
According to Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool did lose in a “most-beautiful way. ” But they still suffered their worst European exit under him.
Not even Klopp’s poetry could hide this humiliation and this is a major black mark in his final season. Klopp had only lost to the two Madrids and Sevilla in his eight European campaigns at Anfield and nobody expected Atalanta to add their name to that list.
