Liverpool suffered an unexpected collapse against Atalanta in the first quarter-final clash of the Europa League tournament. At Anfield, the Merseysiders, who are tipped as favorites for the trophy, went down 0:3 and qualifying at this stage for the semi-finals seems illusory.
Visitors form Bergamo gave a warning signal in the opening minutes when Caoimhin Kelleher saved a close-range shot by Mario Pasalic. The visitors looked dangerous, but the hosts twice had chances to open the scoring, once through Darwin Nunes, who was set up by Curtis Jones in a good position but missed, and then through Harvey Elliott, whose signature strike hit the crossbar twice. Atalanta took the lead in the 38th minute when former West Ham player Gianluca Scamacca beat Kelleher after Davide Zappacosta's pass from the right.
After the break, the score swelled to 2:0, and Scamacca was again celebrating with his teammates after an excellent intercepted cross. Liverpool did not look like themselves and almost did not threaten the opponent's goal, although Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah entered the field in the second half. The Egyptian put the ball into the Bergamo net, but his shot was rightly disallowed by VAR for offside. In the 83rd minute, the situation became dire for Jurgen Klopp and company after another collective defensive error and Pasalic took advantage of Kelleher's unconvincing intervention to set up the classic.
Thus, Atalanta recorded one of its most famous wins in European club tournaments. The second leg in Bergamo is on April 18.
In the Conference League, Kiril Despodov and PAOK lost to Club Brugge 0:1 in the first match on Belgian soil. Hugo Vetlesen gave the hosts an early lead in the 6th minute. The score could swell to 2:0, but former Ludogorets striker Igor Thiago missed from the penalty spot.
Bulgarian international Despodov came off the bench in the 62nd minute, but was unable to help his teammates avoid defeat. The second leg in Thessaloniki is in a week.
All results from the first 1/4-finals in LE:
Milan - Roma 0:1
Bayer Leverkusen - West Ham 2:0
Benfica - Marseille 2:1
Liverpool - Atalanta 0:3
All results from the first 1/4-finals in LC:
Olympiacos - Fenerbahce 3:2
Viktoria Pilsen - Fiorentina 0:0
Aston Villa - Lille 2:1
Club Brugge - PAOK 1:0. /BGNES
