Possession rate is 7 percent, only 1 goal scored! Liverpool won the game and went out of the game, and the tactics were monotonous
In the early morning of April 19, Beijing time, the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals staged a key battle, and the English Premier League Red Army Liverpool defeated Serie A True Blue and Black Atalanta 1-0 away, but still missed the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 1-3. In this game, Liverpool managed a whopping 70% possession but only scored one penalty from 10 shots on goal. Although the game was won, the pride of the Red Army commander seemed to be gone.
In the first leg between the two teams, Liverpool suffered a surprising 3-0 defeat at home. They then lost 1-0 at home to underdogs Crystal Palace in the Premier League, slipping down to third place. This time in the Apennine Peninsula, Liverpool is actually very entangled, because the two title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal are both out of the Champions League quarterfinals, can concentrate on domestic competitions, if they fight to the death of Atalanta, it will inevitably have an adverse impact on the Premier League title.
Judging from the starting 11, in addition to Nunez and Endo, Liverpool still sent most of the main players. They also dominated possession and won a penalty in the seventh minute from Trent Alexander-Arnold, who Salah converted to give the Reds a dream start. Two minutes later, a succession of Dias and Szobosloy almost doubled the score. In the 40th minute, Salah went solo but his lob missed the left post. In the first half, Liverpool led 1-0.
In the second half, Nunez, Diogo Jota and Elliott came on in succession, but then Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson were substituted on both wings. With Nunez's injury-time header saved, Liverpool won 1-0 and missed out on the semi-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
In this campaign, Liverpool had 70% possession of the ball, scored 1 goal with 5 shots on target from 10 shots, and still occupied a considerable advantage on the field. However, from the perspective of tactical play, Liverpool seems very simple, and the sudden long pass to the front striker after the backfield is their most frequent tactic in this game. In the 90 minutes of play, Liverpool made a whopping 87 long passes. Goalkeeper Alisson delivered 26 long balls alone, while the Liverpool back four combined for 43 long balls.
In other words, the goal in the opening 10 minutes gave Liverpool fans hope of a comeback victory. However, in the rest of the day, we only saw the traces of the ball in the air, but did not see another goal. Liverpool's impressive high pressing up front, strangulation in midfield and one-man play at the back are all missing. In the face of Atalanta's 3-4-3 tactics, Liverpool's 4-2-4 formation was so disjointed that it could only use a single tactic of attacking with long passes from the back. Back then, it worked because Liverpool had the Red Arrows trident at their peak, but now, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are gone, and Salah is no longer the man he used to be.
One thing to say, it's not a bad thing to be out, and it can even be said that if you want to, because it allows Liverpool to focus all their energy on the Premier League title. But judging from this game, the Liverpool coach seems to have lost all his heart. Although this game was won, in terms of content, it was even worse than the last defeat to Crystal Palace. If they continue to play like this, Liverpool will not talk about the championship, and it will be a question of how many games they can win in the remaining fixtures.