Liverpool defeated Atalanta – football.ua

Immediately after the main for the Ukrainian amateur match of the first time slot of Tuesday’s part of the third round of the Champions League, in which Shakhtar Donetsk participated (0: 6), it was only fair to shift attention to the fight in Bergamo, where local Atalanta with Ukrainian midfielder Ruslan Malinovsky took on the bench at Athleti Azzurri d’Italia English Liverpool. The battle of the leaders of the Quartet D.

Surprisingly, it was the group stage schedule of this quartet that allowed Ajax Amsterdam and Midtjylland of Denmark not to give up in the fight for the playoffs. After the initial two rounds, Liverpool (6 points) and Atalanta (4 points) took the first positions at the top of the table, but had to play two duels between them, the results of which could open good prospects for the lower teams for the last two rounds.

However, Gasperini and Klopp’s pupils weren’t particularly concerned about Ajax and Midtjylland’s problems. The “reds” were already looking confidently at the group’s exit from first position, but in this context, it was the third-round match that took on decisive significance for them. Success on the road guaranteed Liverpool a situational advantage over Atalanta even in the event of a failed second half of the group round, but the Bergamascos approached the game with exactly the same thoughts, so the showdown was doomed. become principles.

The guests kicked off the game with Zhoty’s unceremonious entrance down the left flank of the penalty area, at the end of which a direct hit was thrown at goalkeeper Sportiello. To establish the nature of the subsequent course of the first half, such actions of the Portuguese player from Liverpool were enough. Klopp’s team easily exchanged control of the ball in midfield, but at such a lighthearted pace they could have missed. Muriel stopped Alisson’s reaction with a strike from the right side of the opponent’s penalty area.

However, the ball scored by Liverpool occurred before Atalanta could prepare the transition to attack not through a long pass, which Gasperini’s team handled badly in the opening minutes. With a pass from deep down the right flank, Alexander-Arnold threw Zhota himself into someone else’s penalty area, who then confidently threw Sportiello in hand-to-hand combat. Similarly, but already in the 33rd minute, the ‘red’ scored her second goal scored. Gomez threw on horseback to the left side of the penalty area, where the ubiquitous Zhota eliminated Palomino with the first touch on the catch, after which he struck under the base of the near post.

The activity of the individual interpreters of the Klopp team (we are talking, first of all, of the three attackers) was enough to say for sure that, based on the general picture of the confrontation, Liverpool beat their rivals in the opening 45 minutes. Atalanta could not build his attacks through a small pass, and the passes from the front by 40 meters, although they led to the appearance of opportunities for the Muriel-Zapata pair of forwards, were not enough to radically change the balance of power in the field.

“Goddess” entered the second half with the final deprivation of the hope of salvation. Within four minutes, the scoreboard turned truly menacing, and Salah and Mane’s precise strikes were separated by just two full revolutions of the second hand. The dynamics of the hosts ‘defensive flanks limped on both legs, and Hatebur regularly left Palomino to battle his opponents’ fast forwards. Of course, the defender had no chance of success. And Liverpool kept charging forward: in the 55th minute, Zhota again escaped under a long pass from the depths, and already before the end of a full hour of play he brought his team closer to the result of Borussia Mönchengladbach.

However, Liverpool stopped at the fifth goal, and if the viewer entered the last half hour, then they could have the misleading impression that Atalanta controlled what was happening on the football field, but somehow managed miss so many goals. Zapata’s activity increased in the penalty area of ​​others, and his shot on the far crossbar in the 62nd minute from the left wing of the penalty area, after which the ball simply did not want to enter the goal, probably the most spectacular moment of the meeting. But no, the Bergamasks in this fight were nowhere near success. Ruslan Malinovsky was on the field for about half an hour, although he was clearly missing from the beginning.

The second game between these teams will have to wait until the end of November, on the 25th Liverpool will host Atalanta in the field of their Anfield stadium.

Atalanta – Liverpool 0: 5
Goals: Jota, 14, 33, 55, Salah, 47, Mane, 49

Atalanta: Sportiello – Toloi, Palomino, Jimcity – Hatebur (Depaoli, 81), Pashalic (Malinowski, 63), Froyler, Mohica (Ruggeri, 81) – A. Gomez (Lammers, 80) – Muriel (Pessina, 52), Zapata.

Liverpool: Alisson – Alexander-Arnold (N. Williams, 82), D. Гомес, Р. Williams, Robertson (Keita, 65) – Jones, Henderson (Milner, 66), Veynaldum (Cimikas, 82) – Salah, Jota (Firmino, 66), Mane.

Warnings: Wijnaldum, Jones