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Liverpool suffered a setback in their Champions League Group D campaign as they were beaten 2-0 by Atalanta BC on Wednesday night.
After scoring maximum points in their first three games, the Reds’ section lead narrowed as Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens scored in the second half at Anfield.
With AFC Ajax defeating FC Midtjylland elsewhere in the group, Jürgen Klopp’s side now have a two-point lead in the race to reach the round of 16 with two games to go.
Team news
Klopp made five changes from the previous Premier League win over Leicester City, with Mohamed Salah restored to the starting lineup in an attack that also featured Divock Origi.
On defense, meanwhile, Neco and Rhys Williams teamed up with Joel Matip and, on the left back for their first Anfield appearance, Kostas Tsimikas.
First half
A period of silence was observed before the start of the match in memory of Argentine legend Diego Maradona, who passed away at the age of 60 that same day.
When the action began, it was the visitors, quarterfinals last season, who threatened to open the scoring in the early stages through a series of promising opportunities.
At nine minutes, Gosens timed his drive from the left wing perfectly to pick up a short pass over the Liverpool defense and power to the goal.
The angle appeared to be narrowing as he hurtled along the edge of the box, but his hard hitting required a careful hook around the post in Alisson Becker’s Kop stand.
Immediately after, Atalanta stole possession from Neco Williams in the Reds half and Alejandro Gómez walked it through the middle as he searched for the right moment to hit.
Matip cunningly manipulated it, however, and diverted the eventual effort harmlessly to the right.
Rather, the Reds struggled to generate meaningful opportunities, prompting Klopp and his coaching staff to demand more movement into advanced areas.
At the other end, meanwhile, Atalanta’s appeals for a penalty were quickly rejected as Ilicic jumped into the box and fell as Georginio Wijnaldum fell back.
Liverpool’s first attempt, unusually, came with 44 minutes left. From a free-kick routine involving James Milner, Curtis Jones and Tsimikas, the ball hit Salah in the box, who pushed it into space and shot over the post.
Second half
Little changed in the first quarter of an hour after the restart, with Alisson successfully judging a run from his line to prevent Ilicic from going one-on-one.
With this second Reds game in three in six days, Klopp had indicated before kickoff that he would have to make significant changes during the game.
And he was already preparing a quadruple substitution when Atalanta crossed the baseline in the 60th minute.
Gomez, who was at the heart of much of his attacking game, picked teammate Ilicic with a curling cross from the left channel and pushed him past Alisson from close range.
The hosts went ahead with their planned presentations from the bench: Fabinho, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and Andy Robertson arrived.
But the quartet barely had time to get going before Atalanta doubled their lead with a similar play along their left wing.
Gómez led in another delivery, this one deeper, and Hans Hateboer returned it to the center of the area, where Gosens arrived to slide a shot out of Alisson’s reach.
Liverpool tried to exert greater pressure in the remaining time, although Atalanta’s replacement Duvan Zapata cut off a presentable opportunity and the Reds could not find their way.
It means a lot of the top three in Group D, with Klopp’s men’s lead trimmed before hosting second-placed Ajax on matchday five next Tuesday.
