There is no time for Jurgen Klopp to dwell because his Liverpool team have Europa League matters to deal with after denting their Premier League title chances.
If Liverpool losing 3-0 to Atalanta last week at Anfield in the Europa League was a shock, well, they took it to another level on Sunday.
The 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace has handed the initiative to Manchester City in the Premier League title race because Arsenal also lost to Aston Villa.
But going forward, how does Klopp deal with these next few weeks and does he even contemplate playing a weaker side in Italy on Thursday night given the scoreline from the first leg?
Liverpool have had many miracle nights in Europe, so this situation won’t be alien to them, especially given that some of them were part of that incredible comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League.
But with this current side misfiring like never before, it wasn’t a surprise that, before losing to Palace, there was talk by some fans that they should now just concentrate on domestic matters now.
Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury asked the ‘silly hypothetical question’ of whether Liverpool should focus more on Fulham on Sunday, rather than their clash against Atalanta.
But Gary Neville wasn’t having any of it and he explained why Klopp needs to go for it in Italy, as he told Sky Sports.
Liverpool against Atalanta in the Europa League
Peter Drury asked: “This is a silly hypothetical question really. But if you were them, given when they are in that European tie, would you be going to Italy and say, ‘comes on guys, let’s have one of our miracle nights’ or would you think, of course we would go and compete, but from next Sunday at Fulham, we win six-in-a-row until the end of the Premier League season.”
“I don’t think they can do anything other than treat that game on Thursday night with full 100% attention,” said Neville.
“I don’t think they can, particularly after what happened (on Sunday). There is another factor that has come in. They have got to get their form back. They have got to get back into winning ways and they have to get back to momentum. They have to swing the momentum, somehow.
“Going out on Thursday, with a whimper, playing a weakened team, is not going to get their season back on track. It’s not! I think they have to go there on Thursday night and think about a famous night. To get something going, to get some sort of momentum shift. If they had won against Palace, but not now! If that thought was ever there in Jurgen Klopp’s mind, it would have gone. He will go there on Thursday night and thinking of, a special night, and we are going to get this season back on track quickly.”
Liverpool’s senior players
From Virgil van Dijk to Mohamed Salah, this is the time for Liverpool’s senior players to step up and showcase their worth.
Let’s be honest, many things are going wrong. The defence is conceding too many chances, the midfield can’t control games and the forward players are misfiring.
But what a better way to showcase that class is permanent than by overcoming that 3-0 deficit and then following it up by winning at Craven Cottage?!
If that happens, then the feeling by the end of the week could be very, very different in the Liverpool camp.