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Thursday’s Europa League quarterfinals featured eight strong teams in enticing first-leg games. Entering the matchday, the favorites were far and away Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool, and the two were on a collision course in the final. However, the prospect of that changed massively after the first leg of the quarterfinals.
Bayer Leverkusen continued its undefeated season with a 2-0 win over West Ham United. Late goals from Jonas Hoffmann and Victor Boniface locked up a first-leg win with goals and the 83rd minute and stoppage time. That should set up a chance to reach the semifinals of the Europa League. However, the story of the day is undoubtedly Liverpool’s collapse at home to Atalanta.
The two clubs entered this game in contrasting forms. Liverpool, fresh off a draw against Manchester United, remained near the top of the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp’s side breezed past Sparta Praha with an 11-2 win on aggregate. Meanwhile, Atalanta had one win in its last six Serie A games to slump into sixth in the Serie A table. A 3-2 win over Primeira Liga leaders Sporting put Atalanta into this season’s quarterfinals. Yet, the reward for that was a matchup with Liverpool.
This first leg at Anfield may go down as one of the best nights in the history of Atalanta. An eventual 3-0 win in true smash-and-grab fashion has dramatically changed the outlook of the Europa League this season.
Shocker in the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday
Rather than backing down against Liverpool at Anfield, Atalanta opened the game strong. Several chances early on almost put the visitors ahead. Caoimhín Kelleher made a strong save on Mario Pasalic after just three minutes. That interest in attack opened the door for Liverpool’s attack to have chances, too. The best of those for the Reds fell to Harvey Elliott. A long-range effort had Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso beaten. However, the ball clanged off both the crossbar and the post before Atalanta cleared it…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/atalanta-stuns-europa-league-quarterfinals-with-liverpool-rout
Author : Kyle Fansler
Publish date : 2024-04-11 21:51:17
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