DThis bankruptcy particularly hurt Liverpool FC on Jürgen Klopp's farewell tour. “It obviously feels very, very below average at the moment,” said the German star coach of the Reds on RTL. “You can't sugarcoat it.” With a 3-0 defeat, his clearly favored team left the pitch in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League against Atalanta Bergamo on Thursday evening.
“It was a really bad game for us. We were everywhere and nowhere,” Klopp told TNT Sports. They would have played into Bergamo's hands. “Of course it hurts,” said captain Virgil van Dijk: “We haven’t lost here for a long time.”
“I have no idea”
Due to the defeat against the club from the Italian Serie A, the former Champions League winner is now threatened with elimination in the round of the top eight. But Van Dijk doesn't want to admit defeat: “If you don't believe in it, you don't have to travel to Italy. However, we made it very difficult for ourselves by losing 3-0.”
With his two goals, Gianluca Scamacca gave the guests a 2-0 lead in the 38th and 61st minutes. In the final phase, instead of Liverpool scoring the next goal, Atalanta's third goal came from Mario Pasalic (83').
“Whether we can win 3-0 – I have no idea,” said Klopp, looking ahead to the second leg on Thursday next week (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL+). “At the moment they are obviously through, but we will go there to win the game. If you win the game, you have to win really,” Klopp explained: “For that we have to play much better. There are no signs of this so far.”
There's nothing more to say, Klopp continued, “other than that it was a bad performance from us, that's why we lost.” The 57-year-old explained that his team “got in their own way too often” during the home defeat: “We didn’t fly, it was a tough game for us. Atalanta was 'Yippy Ya Yeah, that's how we want it'. Then they also scored their goals, they did very well. We gave it to them, but they did it very well.” His team “lost their football nerve too early.”
They would have to show a reaction as early as Sunday in the English championship at home against Crystal Palace (3 p.m. CEST live on Sky). “And I am sure that we can do it.” Such a reaction is urgently needed, because in the Premier League last weekend Liverpool slipped to second place, level on points behind Arsenal FC, after a 2-2 draw at Manchester United.
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