“Awful result and performance,” wrote Jamie Carragher after Liverpool imploded in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Atalanta. “The only consolation is Jurgen should play a full second string and go all in for the league,” he added.That was before they followed up last Thursday’s humbling by getting beat by Crystal Palace at the weekend. Now there’s a real dilemma. Manchester City are in the driving seat for the Premier League crown, but Liverpool and Arsenal remain in hot pursuit. Neither will abandon their hunt based on one loss, nor should they.Can Liverpool be seen to down tools in Europe, then? In short, no. Three-nil is not an unassailable scoreline, besides, Liverpool and famous European comebacks have history. Let us journey back to 2019 – the Reds fought back from three goals down against Barcelona, and not just any Barca, the Lionel Messi brand of Barca. Then there’s 2005. Champions League final in Istanbul. If you know, you know.Pride and momentum are at play too. Klopp said so himself after losing to Palace on Sunday – Liverpool lacked conviction based on a rocky run of results. No better way to bounce back from a rough patch than a morale-boosting fightback. Imagine the scenes.
There are no guarantees Liverpool can go to Bergamo and summon extraordinary powers of recovery, of course, because Atalanta won’t roll over easy. But they have to at least try.