Gianluca Scamacca scored twice as Atalanta surprised Liverpool with a 3-0 win in the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday. This loss makes it tough for Liverpool to win three trophies this season under manager Jürgen Klopp.
At halftime, Atalanta led 1-0 after Scamacca scored with a low shot in the 38th minute. In the second half, Klopp made changes, bringing on Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Andy Robertson, but Scamacca scored again after a pass from Charles De Ketelaere in the 60th minute.
Mario Pašalić scored the third goal seven minutes before the end. Atalanta had previously won 2-0 at Anfield in the group stage of the Champions League in 2020.
Despite winning the English League Cup and being in a close Premier League title race with Arsenal and Manchester City, Liverpool was knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarterfinals.
Thursday’s poor performance might be Klopp’s last European game at Anfield. They need a big win in Bergamo to stay in the competition.
If Liverpool reaches the Europa League final in Dublin on May 22, it would be Klopp’s last game in charge after nearly nine years.
Bayer Leverkusen beat West Ham 2-0 with late goals from substitutes Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface, extending their unbeaten streak to 42 games.
Hofmann scored on a rebound in the 83rd minute, and Boniface secured the victory with a header in stoppage time.
With a 16-point lead in the Bundesliga, Xabi Alonso’s team is on track to win its first-ever league title and has also reached the German Cup final.
In another match, Gianluca Mancini scored the winning goal for Roma with a header from a corner kick by Paulo Dybala, upsetting AC Milan 1-0 at San Siro.
Milan, a seven-time European champion, has never won the second-tier Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. They have also never reached the final, unlike Roma, who achieved it twice but lost both times.
Benfica beat Marseille 2-1, with goals from Rafa Silva and Ángel Di María. Marseille’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a consolation goal, but it was not enough to avoid their fifth straight loss in all competitions.
