Jamie Carragher delivers brutal reaction to Liverpool hammering by Atalanta

Add as preferred source on Google

Liverpool delivered a dismal performance on Thursday night as Atalanta ran out 3-0 winners at Anfield in their Europa League quarter-final first leg.

Ahead of the match, the Reds were favourites against a Dea outfit that hadn’t been playing particularly well in Serie A of late.

Liverpool have been outstanding for most of the season and remain in pursuit of the Premier League title, while Atalanta are currently sixth in the Italian top flight.

Despite this, the visitors well and truly schooled the Reds, whose 33-game unbeaten streak at Anfield came to an end.

Indeed, Atalanta could well have scored more on the night against a Liverpool team that hadn’t lost at home since February 2023.

Gianluca Scamacca broke the deadlock in the 38th minute with a first-time finish underneath Caoimhin Kelleher’s body following Davide Zappacosta’s cross.

The Italy international striker then made it 2-0 on the hour mark with another first-time finish from a cross, the Liverpool defence left looking amateurish once again.

And then, with six minutes left to play, Mario Pasalic grabbed a third on the rebound from Ederson’s strike, the Reds back line static as the third goal went in.

What has Jamie Carragher said about Liverpool loss to Atalanta?

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher took to X after the game and admitted it was an “awful” result and performance from his former side.

The only silver lining he could find was by effectively writing off the second leg and the Europa League and just concentrate on the Premier League.

Liverpool will contest the second leg in Bergamo next Thursday. Before then, they host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.

Carragher does make a good point, but you can’t honestly expect the Reds to not give their all in the second leg, particularly considering there’ll be fans travelling to Italy for the game.

Let’s see what happens now. Klopp now has a very tough balancing act with regards to the Premier League and the Europa League.