On April 12, Beijing time, the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals was contested, and Liverpool, the second in the Premier League, sat at Anfield Stadium to face Atalanta, the sixth in Serie A. Scamacca scored two goals, Pasalic made contributions, and the true blue and black broke out to take the lead, and Liverpool, the biggest favorite to win the Europa League, was upset.
Jurgen Klopp has a reservation for his squad, with Nunez and Gakpo leading the line-up, with Mohamed Salah and Dias on the bench. Atalanta were the first to take the risk, and Pasalic's close-range shot was blocked by Kelleher with his face. Liverpool's transition attack continued to come on, with Nunez's powerful shot from a tight angle saved, and McAllister's shot from the box went over the crossbar.
The two teams played back and forth, with Nunez's one-on-one shot wide of the goalkeeper and Elliott's shot hitting the crossbar and hitting the post, which was a bit of bad luck. Atalanta played passively but aggressively, and in the 38th minute, the midfielder instigated a quick attack, and Zappacosta assisted Scamacca to push the ball into the goal, so that they temporarily held a one-goal advantage in the half.
Klopp immediately made lineup changes when he returned in the second half, with Salah, Sobo and Robertson coming on, and the team's continuous attacks were still fruitless. Atalanta's simple pass on the flank combined with another break through the back, and in the 60th minute, Scamacca scored a brace with an unmarked end shot in the penalty area.
Salah inserted a shot into the near corner at the back post but was blown offside, and in the 83rd minute, Pasalic snatched the ball in the penalty area to secure the advantage, and Atalanta won 3-0 against Liverpool at full-time to take the lead, and the second leg of the home team can break into the semi-finals as long as they hold on. A home defeat is really bad for Liverpool, and I have to say that their recent form has been really bad.