2024-03-25 17:59:22
Liverpool’s first appearance in the UEFA Europa League in eight years continues in the quarter-finals, with Atalanta hosting the first leg at Anfield.
Jürgen Klopp’s side recorded an 11-2 aggregate victory over Sparta Praha in the round of 16, their biggest success in European competition in over forty years, taking them to the quarter-finals final of the UEFA Cup/Europa League for the eighth time.
Atalanta, who have lost just one of their last 21 Europa League matches (W12, D8), are at this stage for the second time in three seasons following a 3-2 victory over overall two matches once morest Sporting Clube de Portugal in the round of 16 (1-1 away, 2-1 at home).
The two teams faced each other in the group stage of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League. Liverpool won 5-0 at the Stadio di Bergamo on matchday three, with a hat-trick from Diogo Jota and goals from Mohamed Salah (47th minute) and Sadio Mané (49th). The Italian team took their revenge a week later, winning 2-0 at Anfield in the second leg thanks to second-half performances from Josip Iličić (60th) and Robin Gosens (64th).
On the teams
Liverpool
Liverpool’s last 14 matches once morest Italian clubs have come in the Champions League, most recently once morest Napoli in last season’s group stage. After a 4-1 defeat at Napoli on the opening day, Klopp’s side won 2-0 at Anfield on the final day.
Liverpool’s last Europa League campaign dates back to 2015/16, when the team reached the final before losing 3-1 to Sevilla FC in Basel, despite Daniel Sturridge’s half-time lead.
The 2001 UEFA Cup winners find themselves in this competition following finishing outside the Premier League’s top four in 2022/23 for the first time in seven seasons.
Klopp’s side finished Group E with 12 points in the fall, beating Union Saint-Gilloise (2-0), Toulouse (5-1) and LASK (4-0) at Anfield, England. more than a 3-1 victory on the first day in Austria. This victory automatically qualified them for the round of 16, where they easily eliminated Sparta Praha (5-1 away, 6-1 at home).
On January 26, Klopp announced his decision to step down at the end of this season, following eight and a half years in charge of the team.
Atalanta
This is the fifth consecutive European campaign in which Atalanta has faced English clubs. Between 2019/20 and 2021/22, the Bergamasques consecutively shared a Champions League group with Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United, with this 2-0 victory at Anfield being their only victory in those six matches (2 draws, 3 defeats).
Atalanta fell into the same group as Everton, Liverpool’s local rivals, in the 2017/18 Europa League, winning both home (3-0) and away (5-1).
Atalanta’s previous appearance in the Europa League, two seasons ago, took them to the quarter-finals once morest Leipzig, but following a 1-1 first-leg draw in Germany, two goals from Christopher Nkunku in Bergamo ended the hopes of the Italian team.
This season, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side finished top of Group D with four wins and two draws in six matches, before facing Sporting CP once more in the round of 16, winning 3-2 over all matches (1-1 away, 2-1 at home).
After not winning any of its first seven away matches in Europe (2 draws, 5 defeats), Atalanta has lost only two of its last 17 matches (8 wins, 7 defeats). They are undefeated in each of their last ten Europa League away matches, their last defeat dating back to 2018 once morest Dortmund (2-3).
We know each other…
Played in Italy:
Alisson Becker (Roma 2016-18)
Mohamed Salah (Fiorentina, prêt 2015, Roma 2015-17)
Ademola Lookman (Atalanta) was born in England and played for Charlton Athletic (2013-17), Everton (2017-19), Fulham (loan 2020/21) and Leicester City (loan 2021/22) in his home country
Lookman was part of Charlton’s academy when Liverpool’s Joe Gomez was promoted to the first team in 2014/15.
We played in England
Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal 2017-22)
Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea 2017-19)
Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham 2022/23)
Marten de Roon (Middlesbrough 2016/17)
Mario Pašalić signed for Chelsea in 2014 but never played for the Blues as he was immediately loaned out.
Played together:
Ryan Gravenberch and Mitchel Bakker (Ajax 2018/19).
Joël Matip and Sead Kolasinac (Schalke 2012-16)
Virgil van Dijk and Hans Hateboer both played in Groningen’s youth team. The Liverpool central defender made his first-team debut in 2011, three years before the Atalanta defender.
Co-operatives and selectionVirgil Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch et Teun Koopmeiners, Hans Hateboer (Pays-Bas)
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