Forwards fail to fire as Liverpool pay price for first-leg horror show
Liverpool’s end-of-an-era party in Dublin is off. There will be no ordering a treble in the Irish capital for manager Jurgen Klopp. He may yet end the season with a double, but a terrible week means it is the fans who are downing the shots. Liverpool, sadly, failed to deliver enough of them to keep their European dreams intact.
A narrow second-leg win over Atalanta was not enough to prevent all hope of a romantic Klopp farewell to Uefa competition evaporating amid the blue smoke in Bergamo, the full-time firework display heralding the Italian side’s greatest scalp.
Liverpool’s victory was hollow, despite the promise of Mohamed Salah’s seventh-minute penalty.
“We didn’t lose tonight. We lost it at home,” Klopp said. “I am disappointed we didn’t go through, not angry.”
The damage of the shocking 3-0 defeat at Anfield was already done. The spirit of that Barcelona comeback could not be invoked. Not even the return of Divock Origi himself would have re-energised a strike force who have lost their spark at the worst time.
In keeping with the recent trend, Liverpool’s front three lacked dynamism and creativity. They will need to rediscover some before the trip to Fulham this weekend, or a major setback in their season will be the beginning of the end of it.
Atalanta were worth their success over the two legs but there was no escaping the sense of a wasted opportunity for Klopp, especially when considering further chances wasted by Salah and Luis Diaz when, briefly, Liverpool looked like they would make the seemingly impossible happen in the first half.
The early penalty offered the platform to make the evening more nervous for the hosts than it ultimately proved, particularly when Trent Alexander-arnold was purring on his first start for two months.
Liverpool’s best work was straight after the first whistle. The longer the game progressed, the more their challenge fizzled out. Now they must ensure the same is not true of their season.
Alexander-arnold’s return added a world-class element to unlock a man-to-man marking system, which meant Atalanta had more worries in the first 10 minutes than the entire 90 at Anfield.
It felt like a template was set with the full-back’s superb diagonals and ability to assume different positions. So long as Liverpool could keep him on the pitch, everything seemed possible.
“We saw Trent Alexanderarnold and as long as he was fresh he set the tempo and direction of the game. Then he was running out of gas,” Klopp lamented.
This lack of match sharpness meant he would be withdrawn with 15 minutes left. As he made his slow exit around the pitch, Liverpool’s ideas departed with him.
Where his team-mates often look frenzied and panicky, Alexander-arnold began with an elegance and poise so lacking in recent games. Just once he was too casual, nearly losing possession on the edge of his penalty area.
He consistently looked a more likely game-changer in Atalanta territory, however.
From a more orthodox position as a marauding wing-back, Alexanderarnold helped give Liverpool their ideal start, his cross met with an instant penalty appeal as it struck Sead Kolasinac’s arm. The referee did not hesitate and Salah scored. The Barcelona comparisons would end there. They ought not to have.
Diaz was denied by goalkeeper Juan Musso and Salah opted for a lobbed finish when one-on-one with the keeper. A confident Salah would have been celebrating before the ball hit the net, but this time he was wide, still shaking his head two minutes later.
This was symptomatic of Salah since his return from a hamstring issue, still searching for his best form. His presence alone was enough to make Atalanta defenders’ knees wobble, but given freedom to roam he too often failed to use possession in profitable areas, the first touch not there, or passes not quite finding their target.
“I am not concerned,” Klopp said, defending his star forward. “That’s what strikers go through. It is not that Mo didn’t miss chances before in his life. That is part of the game. I don’t make a bigger story out of it.”
Klopp was extracting the positives from a performance much better than the previous two, regardless of the dire consequences of the tie’s outcome.
“We were flying into this game. We had desire and power. But it was clear we had to score from time to time.” And there is the rub, as Klopp immediately referenced “focusing on the league”.
Liverpool have six games left to give the football poets the final chapter they crave. Sadly, not even Salah’s pen could write the perfect sonnet this time.