Jurgen Klopp owns Anfield upset against Atlalanta, Calls for focus after Liverpool's disastrous performance

Atalanta caused a major upset on Thursday night, thrashing Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie. Liverpool, fielding a weakened team due to squad rotation, were surprisingly sluggish throughout the encounter. Atalanta, on the other hand, was tactically astute and capitalized on the Reds' vulnerabilities.

Gianluca Scamacca emerged as the hero for the visitors, scoring a goal on either side of halftime. His first goal came in the 38th minute and the other in the 60th minute. Mario Pasalic sealed the convincing win with a late strike, leaving Liverpool needing a monumental comeback in Italy next week to progress to the semi-finals.

This result marks a significant upset. Liverpool had been on a formidable unbeaten run at Anfield before this encounter. The loss also highlights the strength of Atalanta, who are renowned for their attacking style and tactical flexibility under manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

"We deserved to lose"

Jurgen Klopp took full responsibility for Liverpool's heavy defeat, calling it a "really bad game." He acknowledged that Atalanta's goal disrupted his team's plan, leading to a loss of focus and tactical discipline. "It was a really bad game, oh my God. They broke, they scored and we just lost the plot a little bit. We were here and there in midfield, I didn't recognize it," he said.

Klopp admitted that Liverpool played a bad game and deserved to lose. He urged his players to learn from the defeat but focus on their next match against Crystal Palace. He acknowledged that this might be a low point for the team in terms of performance but expressed confidence in their ability to bounce back.

"We played a bad game and we deserved to lose. We must feel that now but we have exactly this night to feel bad about it and then we have to build up for Crystal Palace. Where we are, this is probably a low point for our performance so it should be possible to play a little bit better and we can play a lot better. But first and foremost it's about Sunday now," he added.