What Italian media are saying about Darwin Nunez after Liverpool’s loss to Atalanta last night

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Atalanta might have hoped to come away from Anfield with a narrow loss, maybe nab a draw or even a narrow win – but Gian Piero Gasperini could not have expected, in his wildest dreams, to win 3-0.

But they deserved it. Atalanta were excellent and took advantage in Jurgen Klopp’s decision to make a few changes to his side, bringing in the likes of Harvey Elliott, Cody Gakpo and Konstantinos Tsimikas.

Tactically, Gasperini got it absolute bang on. The experienced Atalanta manager perfect the press against Liverpool in the first half, pinning Liverpool into their own half. Gianluca Scamacca got the first goal.

Then, they sat back and used their lead to their advantage – stinging Liverpool on the counter. Scamacca got a second, and Mario Pasalic made it 3-0. Atalanta were excellent, as much as Liverpool were poor.

Gasperini outwits Liverpool and Klopp in shock Anfield loss

There were a number of poor performances on Thursday from a Liverpool point of view. Klopp made three changes at half-time and that says it all. Steve McManaman blasted one of those that was subbed.

Darwin Nunez, meanwhile, missed a glorious chance to put Liverpool ahead – stabbing an effort wide after being put through on goal by Curtis Jones. He lasted just 60 minutes, before Luis Diaz came on.

It was a poor night for the Uruguayan – who continues to come under criticism for his lack of composure in front of goal. Kolo Toure said it recently. Italian media outlet TMW were critical, giving him 4.5/10.

“Difficult to stop one-on-one, sometimes he believes he is stronger than he really is. This is why the touch under him ends up far from Musso’s posts, and it wasn’t difficult. He misses two quite simple ones.”

Steve McManaman criticised Nunez for his big Liverpool miss

Nunez’s miss was not a case of the Uruguayan getting a decent shot away and it being saved, or the big striker narrowly missing the target. It was a woeful effort, with the scoreline reading 0-0 when he missed.

It showed a lack of composure, an inability to control the heat of the moment when given time to think about the chance he had been afforded. McManaman was very critical of his effort at goal on TNT Sports.

“Why didn’t he just go round him? He makes a lovely run, onside. But the goalkeeper is showing to the left, just go round him? Ugly effort in the end. That was an easy one,” McManaman said in commentary.