Atalanta stunned Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals, dealing a major blow to the Reds’ hopes of a treble in manager Jurgen Klopp’s final season at Anfield.
The Italian visitors took the lead in the 38th minute through Gianluca Scamacca’s low drive past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Klopp responded by bringing on Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Andy Robertson in the second half, but Scamacca struck again on the hour mark, assisted by Charles De Ketelaere. Mario Pašalić sealed the victory for Atalanta with a goal seven minutes from time.
The loss damages Liverpool’s chances of winning the Europa League, Premier League, and FA Cup this season. The Reds have already won the English League Cup and are in a tight title race with Arsenal and Manchester City. However, their hopes of a treble now appear slim after this disappointing performance at Anfield.
Atalanta, on the other hand, will be confident of reaching the semifinals after their impressive display. The Italian side has now won both of their meetings with Liverpool this season, having also triumphed 2-0 in the group stage of the Champions League in 2020.
Bayer Leverkusen also boosted their chances of a treble by beating West Ham 2-0 in the other Europa League quarterfinal first leg. Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface scored late goals to give the German side a comfortable advantage heading into the second leg.
In the all-Italian matchup, Gianluca Mancini scored a header to give Roma a 1-0 win over AC Milan at San Siro. The victory was Roma’s first over Milan since October 2019 and ended the seven-time European champion’s hopes of winning the Europa League.
Benfica also took a step towards the semifinals with a 2-1 win over Marseille. Rafa Silva and Ángel Di María scored for the Portuguese side, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back for Marseille.
The second-leg games will be played next week, with Atalanta hosting Liverpool, West Ham traveling to Leverkusen, Milan welcoming Roma, and Marseille visiting Benfica.
