Atalanta vs Liverpool LIVE commentary: Reds need Europa League miracle in Italy to reach semi-finals – kick-off time, team news and talkSPORT coverage

Liverpool will need to come back from 3-0 down to stay in the Europa League when they travel to Italy on Thursday, live on talkSPORT.

The Reds completely capitulated in the first leg of their quarter-final, getting thumped at Anfield, leaving them with a mountain to climb.

Jurgen Klopp’s side then followed up that result with another shock home defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League at the weekend.

Today they seem in complete disarray, but achieving a historic return to Europe would be the best way to turn the situation around.

Atalanta vs Liverpool: A nightmarish week

Klopp’s final farewell to Liverpool wasn’t supposed to go like this…

It looked like his side were on their way to a Premier League and Europa League double, with the Reds dominating both competitions.

However, last week did major damage to their trophy chances.

The German said he “had nothing positive to say” after the first-leg defeat and it is likely his thoughts were the same after the Palace defeat.

To stay in Europe, Liverpool must make history and become the first team in the competition to overturn a three-goal deficit in the second leg.

So that leaves them in desperate need of a miracle to end what has been a nightmare week for the club.

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• Atalanta’s only home victory against an English opponent came against Everton in September 2017 (3-0), while their only such defeat came against Liverpool in November 2020 (0-5). They drew their other two home matches against English teams.
• Atalanta is looking to win both UEFA Europa League knockout matches for the first time since the 2021-22 round of 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Liverpool could lose both UEFA Cup/Europa League knockout matches for the first time since the 1998-99 round of 16 against Celta de Vigo.

Atalanta vs Liverpool: team news

Martin de Roon will return for Atalanta after missing his side’s Serie A clash this weekend due to suspension.

However, Georgio Scalvini and former Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac are both expected to miss out due to injuries.

As for Liverpool, Conor Bradley suffered a knock against Crystal Palace last time out.

He could miss out but the Reds will be boosted by the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Alisson, Diogo Jota and Stefan Bajcetic are also back while Joel Matip, Ben Doak and Thiago remain on the sidelines.

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• Atalanta have lost just one of their 16 home matches in the UEFA Cup/Europa League (W10, D5), losing 0-2 to RB Leipzig in the 2021-22 quarter-final second leg. .
• Liverpool have won three of their last four away games against Italian teams in all competitions (1 defeat), as many as in their first 14 such visits (3 draws, 8 defeats). However, their last visit ended in a 4-1 defeat against Napoli in September 2022.

Atalanta vs Liverpool: What was said?

Klopp called for a reaction from him after the heavy first-leg defeat and subsequent loss to Crystal Palace.

Speaking on Sunday, he said: “The answer is quite simple. If we play like we did in the first half, how should we win the championship?

“If we play like we did in the second half, we can win football games.

“If we can win football games, we’ll see how many we can win and then we want to be there when the other guys are struggling, if they’re struggling.

“We have to win games anyway. We now have four away matches in a row. Either way, it would have been difficult and it will be difficult. We have to deal with that.

“Criticism at these times is completely good, it is completely fair. It all depends on how we handle it.

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• Liverpool won their last European away match 5-1 at Sparta Prague; The Reds have not won consecutive away matches in the UEFA Cup/Europa League since 2002-03, when they beat Vitesse and Auxerre in succession.
• Gianluca Scamacca has scored in each of his last four UEFA Europa League appearances, including a brace in the first leg against Liverpool. Indeed, this is the longest goal streak ever achieved by an Atalanta player in major European competitions.

Atalanta vs Liverpool: talkSPORT coverage

This Europa League quarter-final second leg will take place on Thursday April 18.

Kick-off at Gewiss Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m.

talkSPORT will cover the match live, presented by Hugh Woozencroft.

Commentary will come from Joe Shennan and former England striker Dean Ashton.