Europe League
Klopp after defeat against Bergamo: “You can’t sugarcoat it”
With the defeat against Atalanta Bergamo, Liverpool and coach Jürgen Klopp are now threatened with elimination from the Europa League. photo
© Peter Byrne/PA Wire/dpa
That hurts: the favorite is about to be eliminated. Liverpool’s defeat against Atalanta also leaves coach Jürgen Klopp rather perplexed.
This bankruptcy hurt Liverpool FC on their farewell tour Jürgen Klopp particularly hurt. “It obviously feels very, very below average at the moment,” said the German star coach of the Reds on RTL. “You can’t sugarcoat it.”
His clearly favored team lost 3-0 in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League against Atalanta Bergamo. “It was a really bad game for us. We were everywhere and nowhere,” said Klopp on TNT Sports. They would have played into Bergamo’s hands. “Of course it hurts,” said captain Virgil van Dijk: “We haven’t lost here for a long time.”
Due to the defeat against the club from the Italian Serie A, the former Champions League winner is now threatened with elimination in the round of the top eight. But Van Dijk doesn’t want to admit defeat: “If you don’t believe in it, you don’t need to travel to Italy. However, we made it very difficult for ourselves by losing 3-0.”
Gianluca Scamacca gave the guests a 2-0 lead with a brace in the 38th and 61st minutes. In the final phase, instead of Liverpool scoring the next goal, Atalanta’s third goal came from Mario Pasalic (83′).
Will Liverpool still progress? “No idea”
“Whether we can win 3-0 – I have no idea,” said Klopp, looking ahead to the second leg on Thursday next week. “There’s nothing more to say than it was a poor performance from us, that’s why we lost.”
They should show a reaction on Sunday in the English championship at home against Crystal Palace. “And I’m sure we can.” They should, because in the Premier League last weekend, Liverpool slipped to second place, level on points behind Arsenal, due to a 2-2 draw at Manchester United.