- Liverpool endured a shock 3-0 defeat by Atalanta in the Europa League last week
- Jurgen Klopp’s side will need another miracle to turn around the quarter-final tie
- Darwin Nunez is a handful, but not lethal. Jurgen Klopp is making excuses for him – Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
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It’s mission improbable but definitely not mission impossible for Liverpool as they head to Bergamo looking to overturn a shock 3-0 deficit against Atalanta. And Jurgen Klopp wants to summon the spirit of 2019 when his side pulled off a mighty comeback against Barcelona.
The circumstances are vastly different. Liverpool had the Anfield crowd roaring them from 3-0 down to win 4-3 on aggregate against the Catalans in 2019. Now they will have a raucous band of Italian ultras jeering every touch in a hostile, cauldron-like atmosphere by the Alps.
But it is hard not to think back to that famous win, one of the best nights in the club’s history which is celebrated in many pictures and inspirational quotes around the Liverpool training base in Kirkby. The players will struggle not to take encouragement from those homages.
So Klopp will urge his players to go out with a bang at the very least by winning the second leg and seeing where it takes them. ‘I remember (before Barcelona) I said, “If we fail, let’s fail in the most beautiful way”,’ said the Reds boss, who also told his team to ‘show some balls’ in 2019.
‘And that’s exactly how I see it again. We want to win the game. If we want to win, we better play good. If we play good, we have a chance. After the game (last week), everyone in the stadium thought, “That’s it”. But a week later, I don’t think everybody thinks it’s already decided.
‘I have been long enough in this business to know it is two legs, it is over when it is over. We are still allowed to play tomorrow, we are 100,000 per cent focused. We are only here to play football – but I cannot win this game in this press conference today.’
Liverpool will be without Conor Bradley but his ankle injury suffered on Sunday is better than first feared, with the Northern Irishman hoping to return in the first week of May. That opens the door for fellow full back Trent Alexander-Arnold to make a first start since early February.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Alisson says it was mentally tough being forced to miss eight weeks of the season with a hamstring injury that threatened to derail his campaign. ‘It was really hard for me,’ said the Brazil No 1.
‘I am a guy that when I am at home, injured or just resting, I don’t like watching football. I want to play and be part of every game! I spent a lot of time in the gym to be in good shape and maybe better than how I was before.
‘It was eight weeks doing double sessions, every day, sometimes three sessions. It was really hard for me. I have a desire to be part of that fight.’
Liverpool predicted line-up (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Elliott; Salah, Jota, Diaz.
