Liverpool’s title dream shattered
Victory is not enough: Klopp’s team misses the miracle
April 18, 2024, 10:54 p.m
The 3-0 defeat in the first leg is too big a burden: Liverpool FC are eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Atalanta Bergamo. The 1-0 win is not enough for Jürgen Klopp’s team. This means that the German coach’s chance for a title ends.
The big comeback didn’t happen: Jürgen Klopp has to say goodbye to Liverpool FC without one last European Cup. The German team manager’s team won their second leg in the quarter-finals of the Europa League at Atalanta Bergamo 1-0 (1-0) on Thursday, but were unable to make up for the painful 3-0 home defeat from the first duel due to a generally too harmless performance .
“It’s mixed emotions. We’re out, but I’m happy with the game. We would have liked to go to Dublin, but that didn’t happen,” Klopp said on TNT Sports, looking ahead to the final on May 22nd the Irish capital: “We now have one more competition and we will give it our all.”
Star striker Mohamed Salah (7th) scored for Liverpool with a hand penalty, but it wasn’t enough for more. For Klopp, who is leaving the team in the summer after nine years and won the Champions League in 2019, after winning the League Cup in February he only has the chance of his second Premier League title after 2020. Liverpool have 71 points in the league two points behind league leaders Manchester City.
Roger Schmidt and Benfica are also out
Liverpool put a lot of pressure on at the beginning and quickly became dangerous. A cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold found Bergamo’s Matteo Ruggeri’s hand, and Salah safely converted the following penalty. Shortly before half-time, the Egyptian (40th) should have scored the second goal, but he lifted the ball clearly past one-on-one with Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso. After the break, Klopp’s team remained far too passive to create the miracle.
Atalanta will now face Olympique Marseille in the semi-finals (May 2nd/9th). The French defeated Benfica Lisbon led by German coach Roger Schmidt 4-2 on penalties; after extra time the score was 1-0 (1-0, 0-0). Olympique lost the first leg 1-2. Faris Moumbagna (79th) scored for Marseille in regular time, and Luis Henrique scored the decisive penalty in the thriller from the spot.
In the all-Italian duel, AS Roma secured the semi-final ticket – and is therefore challenging Bayer Leverkusen. After a 1-0 win in the first leg, coach Daniele De Rossi’s team won 2-1 (2-0) against AC Milan after being long outnumbered. Gianluca Mancini (12th) and Paulo Dybala (22nd) made the capital celebrate, Matteo Gabbia (85th) shortened the score for Milan. Rome’s Zeki Celik (31st) was shown a red card after a serious foul in the first half.