Liverpool were the better side by almost every metric when they faced Manchester United on April 7th. They weren’t better where it mattered most, though, the final score, dropping two important points in a 2-2 draw.
Against Atalanta mid-week in the Europa League quarter-final first leg, Jürgen Klopp’s side had a chance to react. Instead they put in a woeful performance, lost 3-0, and now have one foot out of that competition.
On Sunday against Crystal Palace, things got worse. A poor first half saw them behind 1-0, and despite a second half rally that’s how the game ended, and a once promising season now looks on the edge of implosion.
“If we play like we did in the first half, why should we win the league?” Klopp said of the Palace match. “But if we play like the second, we can win football games, and if we can win football games we will see how many.
“We have to be around when the other guys struggle, if they struggle. That’s how it is. For us, obviously we have to win games anyway. We now have a string of four away games, and that would have been tough anyway.
“Now that [they are away games is] the easy thing. There is nothing else really for us to say. The criticism in these moments, it is completely fine and absolutely right. Now it’s all about how we deal with it, and that’s it.”
With each stumble, the task of recovering becomes more difficult. The season isn’t over yet, though. At least not quite. First up is the second leg against Atalanta in Bergamo, Italy, a tough task given the three-goal deficit.
Atalanta have lost just two games this season by a margin that would suffice to at least force extra time on Thursday, and both defeats were on the road, a 3-0 loss to Torino and 4-0 to Inter Milan, both in Serie A play.
They’ve lost just three times at home in all competitions and are yet to concede more than two goals at home in the 2023-24 season. If the Reds are to salvage their season, though, the goal is clear: win, and win big.
