Coach Jürgen Klopp is facing elimination from the Europa League with Liverpool FC. The Reds suffered a surprising 0-3 (0-1) defeat in the first leg of the quarter-finals against Atalanta Bergamo on Thursday evening at their home stadium on Anfield Road. After two goals from Gianluca Scamacca (38th minute and 61st), Mario Pasalic (83rd) also scored shortly before the end.
This means that Liverpool are facing a very, very difficult task in the second leg on Thursday next week. Just last weekend, the Reds had to give up the lead in the Premier League to Arsenal FC after a 2-2 draw against Manchester United.
Klopp had initially omitted striker Mohamed Salah from his starting line-up, as well as former Bundesliga professional from RB Leipzig, Dominik Szoboszlai. Both came to break. To the disappointment of the LFC fans, they were no longer able to avert defeat. At the start of the game they had already protested with a large banner against the planned ticket price increase for the people of Liverpool.
After a home defeat, it will also be difficult for former European Cup winners AC Milan to make it to the semi-finals. In the Italian Serie A duel, Milan suffered a 0-1 (0-1) defeat against AS Roma. Gianluca Mancini scored the only goal of the game.
In contrast, Benfica Lisbon under coach Roger Schmidt prevailed at home against Olympique Marseille. The Portuguese won 2:1 (1:0). Rafa Silva (16th) and Argentine world champion Ángel di María (52nd) scored the goals for the hosts, while former BVB professional Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (67th) scored the visitors from Marseille’s goal.
