Klopp looks to turn back clock as Reds attempt to prolong continental farewell
Jürgen Klopp will evoke the spirit of 2019 when he sends his Liverpool side out to keep their Europa League hopes alive against Atalanta in Bergamo this evening.
The Reds have a 3-0 deficit to overturn from the quarter-final first leg if they are to make the last four, a scenario which has echoes of their famous comeback to beat Barcelona in a Champions League semi-final on their way to winning a sixth European Cup five years ago.
After that victory his players remarked on a stirring speech the German gave before kick-off and Klopp said he can use that evocative night at Anfield as a reference point – even though they will not have the backing of a home crowd tonight, in what could be his last European match in charge of Liverpool ahead of his departure next month.
“I usually don’t prepare these things, especially not the day before or four years before whatever,” he said. “I remember I said, ‘If we fail, then let’s fail in the most beautiful way’. And that’s how I see it again.
“After the game [last week] everyone in the stadium thought ‘that’s it’. Now a week later I don’t think everyone thinks it is decided.
“We want to win the game. If we want to win, we better play good. If we play good, we have a chance to win it. Then we will see.”
That Barcelona victory is the only time in Liverpool’s long European history in which they overturned a three-goal deficit from the first leg.
However, they have never made such a comeback playing the second leg away – and in four first-leg European ties they have lost at Anfield they have never progressed.
Liverpool hammered Atalanta 5-0 in Italy in a behind-closed-doors Champions League group game during lockdown in November 2020 – before losing at home 2-0 – and Klopp hopes they can capitalise on any indecision the hosts may have about how to approach things.
“Tomorrow is more difficult because they don’t have to score at all,” he added. “We will see who deals better with the situation. If Atalanta go through then they will deserve it. If not, then something special will have happened. We have to do better. It’s really not simple because usually you fight for everything but when you are 3-0 up it is not easy for them.”
Despite their advantage, Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini is not underestimating the occasion as they seek only a second European semi-final spot in the club’s history.
“We know that it will be one of the most important games in our history, if not the most important,” he said. “Even though we won the first leg, we start again at 0-0. Our focus will have to be not to think about the result of the first leg.”
Captain Marten de Roon added: “I don’t think only in Bergamo but I believe that all of Italy will be behind us tomorrow.”
We will see who deals better. If Atalanta win, they deserve it. If not, something special will have happened