Salah’s spot on but Reds revival proves too little, too late
IF you are going to fail, then make sure you fail beautifully. That was Jurgen Klopp’s rallying cry before Liverpool attempted to write another chapter into the book of inspirational comebacks in Europe.
In the end, this will have to go down as a failure. It was not quite beautiful, but it was a valiant performance that healed some of the psychological wounds of the last fortnight and gave Reds fans hope that the Klopp era can still have a magical ending.
Winning on the night, via an early Mohamed Salah penalty, stopped the rot after two losses and a draw in the weeks before had threatened to derail their season. Liverpool ended this tie with their heads held high but the damage had already been done and they left with nothing.
Klopp will hope the Premier League finale does not follow that pattern. The German now has just six dates remaining on his farewell tour. The days of following Klopp’s side around Europe — a journey yielding four finals and a sixth European Cup crown for the club — are over.
Salah’s goal after just seven minutes made the away fans dream of another great revival but Gian Piero Gasperini’s hard-working Atalanta side soon settled and let this tie fizzle out.
With apologies for an obvious pun, the stubborn display was a typical Italian Job.
In this picturesque city stalked by shadows of the Italian Alps and Mont Blanc, it felt like Liverpool had a significant but not insurmountable mountain to climb.
It was mission improbable but certainly not mission impossible.
If they were to summon the spirit of 2019, when they turned round a three-goal deficit to topple Barcelona, Reds fans knew they needed a quick start. They got just that, scoring after only seven minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, starting his first match since February, showed Liverpool what they had been missing and repeatedly popped up in dangerous areas.
The full back won a penalty after his cross was blocked by the hand of Matteo Ruggeri, which Salah duly converted.
The small number of Liverpool fans in the corner of this incomplete stadium started to believe, and Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai fluffed decent openings in the following minutes.
Atalanta looked nervous. Their manager, the impressive Gasperini, had said this was the biggest game in the club’s history. But they soon settled and gave Alisson a few scares at the other end.
First, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk nearly diverted a cross into his own net and had to be bailed out by his goalkeeper — though it might have been offside.
Then Aleksei Miranchuk would have been one-on-one after a fine give-and-go with Gianluca Scamacca but his first touch was sloppy.
Salah missed a golden chance to add a second when he was put through on goal and went to lob Juan Musso but pulled his attempt wide, then Liverpool had a wake-up call at the other end as Teun Koopmeiners had a goal ruled out for offside.
Atalanta looked more organised after the half-time interval, which came at a good time for the Italians. Gasperini’s men retreated further towards their own goal and limited the space for Liverpool, who threw on Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota in search of another goal.
Indeed, as the second half ticked on, Atalanta looked the more likely team to score. Midfielder Ederson saw a big chance go awry and Koopmeiners fired a drilled shot straight at Alisson.
Cody Gakpo and Salah had good openings but could not muster much more than tame efforts.
So what to make of Liverpool’s exit? Given the talent in their squad, this was a below-par Europa League campaign which ended on a disappointing note.
But their sabbatical from the Champions League will soon be over and a return to Europe’s elite competition is on the cards.
Sadly for Liverpool supporters, Klopp will not be the man to lead them as they search for European Cup No7.
Whoever takes over Klopp’s duties has sizeable shoes to fill. The German brought the good times back on their European tours.
After those four finals against football royalty like Real Madrid, no one expected the journey to end in Bergamo. But it was quite the ride for those fans.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7 (Gomez 72min, 6), Konate 5, Van Dijk 6, Robertson 6 (Danns 79); Szoboszlai 6 (Elliott 67, 6), Mac Allister 7, Jones 6; Salah 7 (Nunez 66, 6), GAKPO 7.5, Diaz 7 (Jota 66, 6). Scorer: Salah 7 (pen). Booked: Diaz. Manager: Jurgen Klopp 6.
Referee: Francois Letexier (Fra) 5. Attendance: Not provided.