Liverpool tries to turn page after Europa League drubbing at Anfield

LONDON (AP) — Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool “misplaced the plot” in a 3-0 defeat to Atalanta.

The rout at Anfield within the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday night time has muffled treble discuss — in the interim, anyway.

The Reds now want to show the web page to make sure they don’t fall behind within the Premier League title race — presently their finest probability for extra silverware in Klopp’s closing season.

“We performed a foul sport, we deserved to lose and we should really feel that now. However the boys have precisely this night time to really feel dangerous about it after which we’ve to construct up once more for the Crystal Palace sport, in order that’s how it’s,” Klopp stated in his postmatch information convention.

Liverpool hosts Palace on Sunday a few hours earlier than first-place Arsenal faces Aston Villa in north London. Klopp and Mikel Arteta’s crew are tied on factors however Arsenal leads on purpose distinction. Manchester Metropolis is one level again and might transfer atop the league Saturday when it hosts relegation-threatened Luton.

“We have now to bounce again and the one strategy to do it’s clearly profitable that sport on the weekend,” defender Virgil van Dijk instructed TNT after Thursday’s loss.

The 56-year-old Klopp shocked everybody in late January when he introduced he’d be leaving Liverpool on the finish of this season after practically 9 years in cost.

A month later, Liverpool beat Chelsea within the English League Cup closing and Merseyside was buzzing a few quadruple to ship Klopp off in type.

However Liverpool blew an extra-time lead and misplaced to Manchester United within the FA Cup quarterfinals.

After which Atalanta — sixth place in Serie A — got here to city. The second leg is subsequent Thursday in Bergamo.

“Effectively, I feel clearly with the man-marking system they do, we’ve to do a lot better and when we’ve the ball we’ve to maintain the ball higher and for longer and be stronger,” Van Dijk stated. “Clearly, they received these 50-50 challenges more often than not after which the areas have been open. They clearly punished us instantly with that and that’s what occurs.”

Within the group stage of the 2020-21 Champions League season, Liverpool beat Atalanta 5-0 away earlier than dropping at house 2-0 to the Italian crew — with each video games performed with out followers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And in 2019, Liverpool pulled off a comeback in opposition to Barcelona after dropping the primary leg 3-0 within the Champions League semifinals, profitable 4-0 at Anfield within the second leg.

So one other plot twist in retailer?

“Effectively, for those who don’t have perception there isn’t a level in going to Italy. We have now made it very exhausting for ourselves, going there 3-0 down, however we deal with Crystal Palace,” Van Dijk stated. “Like I stated, we want everybody to rapidly change it again on after which we are going to deal with placing out not less than 4 objectives over there.”

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