Woeful Liverpool display leaves Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour in tatters, writes WILL PICKWORTH… as Reds’ defensive frailties are exposed by impressive Atalanta on grim night

It all seemed to end so perfectly.

Ever since Jurgen Klopp announced his shock decision to leave Liverpool after nine brilliant and transformative years, Reds supporters had marked Wednesday, May 22, in their diaries.

Because that is the date of the Europa League final in Dublin, a city with significant cultural and emotional ties to Liverpool.

The memory of Klopp lifting the one trophy he has yet to win in his final game in charge before heading off into the sunset is the stuff dreams are made of.

But after a night of mistakes at Anfield, Klopp’s hopes of a perfect farewell hang by a thread after a dismal 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final.

The Reds were defeated 3-0 after their worst performance of the season at Anfield

But Atalanta were brilliant and deserve a lot of credit for securing a major shock on Thursday

Liverpool produced their worst performance of the season and left themselves with a mammoth task in Bergamo next week as their unbeaten home run dating back to February 2023 came to an end.

“A very bad game, oh my God,” Klopp complained after the match. ‘We lost the plot a bit, we were everywhere and nowhere.

‘Unfortunately there is nothing really positive to say about the game. I didn’t like our tactical positioning in possession.

‘We scored one for offside, but it was a bad game from us. Atalanta played a good match, scoring three goals and deserving the win.

“The boys have to go home and sleep rough.”

Klopp – whose side were overwhelming favorites for the Europa League before Thursday – could have no complaints as his side were the best, second only to Atalanta, as their defensive weaknesses were brutally exposed.

Gianluca Scamacca found himself in an area with space for his two goals – although Caoimhin Kelleher let the first pass through his hands – before a terrible mistake from Dominik Szoboszlai led to a potentially crucial third in Mario Pasalic’s draw.

But it could have been worse. Despite Kelleher’s mistake, the Irishman made three brilliant stops after Atalanta had cut Liverpool open.

The Reds’ faltering defense has now allowed 11 goals in the past five games, while they have failed to keep a clean sheet in nine games.

In the aftermath of Liverpool’s memorable Carabao Cup win in February, there was genuine hope that Klopp could end his time at Anfield with a quadruple.

But after crashing out of the FA Cup following a 4-3 defeat to Man United, and at a time when Arsenal have conceded just once in their past five league games, Liverpool’s defensive shortcomings could derail their quest for success elsewhere.

Virgil van Dijk, who was surprisingly out of character on what was a grim evening for the Reds, admitted as much but insisted Klopp’s side will not dwell on this display.

“Obviously it’s not great and it’s a very, very disappointing evening,” he reflected. ‘There were too many individual mistakes and we were punished for that.

“The areas were open and they punished us straight away. But we need everyone to look forward to another big game.

‘It hurts. But it cannot abandon us. We have to respond quite quickly.”

But for all Liverpool’s shortcomings, Atalanta and Gian Piero Gasperini deserve a lot of credit for their brilliant performances.

Klopp’s hopes for a perfect farewell during the Europa League final in Dublin are hanging by a thread

Liverpool’s defensive shortcomings came to the fore and could cost them money in the Premier League

The Italians managed to keep Liverpool open time and time again, putting aside their indifferent league form to produce one of the shocks of the season.

West Ham fans may have wondered where this version of Scamacca was during his unsuccessful spell in east London, but he was symptomatic of strong displays all over the park, with former Chelsea defender Davide Zappacosta posing a threat on the right.

Although Mohamed Salah had a second-half goal disallowed for offside, Atalanta appeared to strengthen in defense as the match progressed, with Juan Musso enjoying a surprisingly quiet evening.

But as we have seen in Klopp’s nine years in charge, you would be foolish to write off Liverpool next week, even though the German will need to pull off one of his greatest comebacks yet if he wants that special night in Dublin to have. come May.