Liverpool's hopes of a perfect send-off for manager Jurgen Klopp took another blow on Thursday as they crashed out of the Europa League. A shocking 3-0 defeat at home to Atalanta in the first leg meant a 1-0 triumph in the return fixture was nowhere near enough for Liverpool, whose miserable April continues with a victory that still feels like a defeat.
Sloppy decisions in the final third and a lack of cutting edge both pointed to a team who were out on their feet. Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who only recently came back from injury, has admitted he simply ran out of energy as the clock ticked on.
Liverpool have been plagued by injuries to a number of top players in recent months, and Klopp could have played more fringe players, but doing so would have sabotaged the Reds' run at Premier League glory. Unfortunately, the risk of lack of rotation did not pay off.
Questions arise over the over-reliance on Mohamed Salah for goals in the Liverpool squad. Salah's performance against Atalanta highlights the struggle for alternate goal scorers despite capable players like Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, and Darwin Nunez.
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