Liverpool's Champions League hopes all but over after calamitous display against Atalanta
Klopp's side thrashed 3-0 at home in first leg
Liverpool's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League are hanging by a thread after a calamitous defensive display against Atalanta on Tuesday night.
The Reds were thrashed 3-0 at Anfield, with Duvan Zapata's brace and Josip Ilicic's strike putting the Serie A side in control of the tie ahead of the second leg in Bergamo on March 16.
It was a dismal performance from Liverpool, who were without the injured Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez. The Reds were all at sea at the back, and Atalanta took full advantage.
Zapata opened the scoring in the 16th minute, bundling home from close range after a mistake from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
Ilicic doubled the lead just six minutes later, curling a superb effort into the top corner from the edge of the box.
And Zapata made it 3-0 in the 56th minute, heading home from a corner.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted after the game that his side were "not good enough".
"We made too many mistakes," Klopp said. "We were not compact enough, we were not aggressive enough, and we were not good enough in possession.
"We have to take this on the chin and learn from it. We have a lot of work to do."
Liverpool will need to produce a remarkable comeback in the second leg if they are to progress to the quarter-finals.
But on the evidence of this performance, it is difficult to see how they will turn things around.
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