PLAYER RATINGS: Liverpool’s Unfortunate Performances when Nunez’s Missed Opportunity, Van Dijk’s Instability, and Szoboszlai’s Costly Error

After Atalanta shocked everyone by defeating them 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinal match, Liverpool was left in disbelief at Anfield. Prior to the game, Jurgen Klopp made some drastic changes, but they nearly backfired since Caoimhin Kelleher saved a brilliant shot from Mario Pasalic at close range. Gianluca Scamacca gave his team a well-earned first goal as the Reds were far from at their best; his effort did manage to get past Kelleher’s fingertips. Liverpool failed to rally after halftime, and Scamacca increased Atalanta’s advantage with more shoddy defending. Mario Pasalic then added a third goal to put the Italian team in a dream come true ahead of next week’s second leg in Bergamo.

Caoimhin Kelleher  5 : Although Pasalic made an incredible save early on, Kelleher was responsible for the first goal by letting Scamacca’s strike evade his grasp. made a few excellent saves subsequently, even though Pasalic’s parry for Atalanta’s third found its way to his feet.  

Joe Gomez 6 : As Atalanta continuously closed in behind, the right back lacked his normal calm and confused his direction when battling the Italian team’s split forwards. inefficient when attacking.Ibrahima Konate 6: The former West Ham flop struggled to contain a dangerous attacking trio and was culpable for Scamacca’s second goal by playing De Ketelaere offside. 

Virgil van Dijk 6 : The Serie A team was surprisingly shaky, frequently exposing Liverpool while the Reds stumbled against their opponents’ pressure. Heading over a corner with a decent opportunity as well.Kostas Tsimikas 5: During his first start since February, he was clearly out of position while Scamacca’s opening goal was being set up, and he was also constantly troubled by Zappacosta and Koopmeiners. Halftime: hooked. Wataru Endo 6: Did not perform the defensive screening that he had been doing for the majority of the campaign. Among those Liverpool players that behaved inappropriately at Anfield.  Alexis Mac Allister 6 Though he is a serious candidate for Player of the Season at Liverpool, the Argentinean had one of his quieter games while wearing a Reds jersey.  Curtis Jones 7 – A lovely ball that created a chance for Nunez and yielded some excellent positioning on the inside left channel. Maybe replaced quite harshly at halftime.  

Harvey Elliott,6.5—Although he didn’t take full use of his early opportunity, his curled attempt struck the post and bar, making him unlucky not to score.  

Darwin Nunez 5 – Blazed over inside the box in the second half after missing a fantastic opportunity to go around Musso at 0-0. If Nunez wants to advance, he needs to get better in front of goal.

Cody Gakpo 6 – The Dutch forward looked like his normal self, causing sporadic issues coming in off the left, but he was unable to spark a comeback for his team. Mohamed Salah 6 (in place of 

Harvey Elliott, 45 minutes in): Though his goal was disallowed, it wasn’t offside. squandered two more excellent opportunities, and on this depressing evening, not even Liverpool’s lucky charm could move them. 

Andy Robertson 6.5 (in place of Kostas Tsimikas, 45 minutes): A brilliant player for Liverpool, he created momentum down the left and nailed the beautiful pass that set up 

Salah’s goal that was disallowed 
Dominik Szoboszlai (45 minutes, for Curtis Jones) – tried to inject some vigor, but he made a terrible error on Atalanta’s third, which might have been the game-winning goal in the draw. Late on, missed a great opportunity as well. 5.  

Luis Diaz 5.5  (for Darwin Nunez, 60 minutes): He had trouble entering the game, although having one opportunity to test Musso.  Diogo Jota  6 (75 minutes, for Endo) – Jota’s return to the field for the first time since February is a pleasant sight, but she was added too late to have any effect on the match.