Stephen Warnock was not really impressed by what Liverpool’s 24-year-old player did against Atalanta tonight.
In the end, Liverpool only have themselves to blame. They simply left a mountain to climb for themselves against Atalanta.
Briefly, it felt like they had a flicker of hope in the first half tonight when Mohamed Salah scored within ten minutes.
But in the end, they just couldn’t take their chances and maintain their intensity in the second-half.
Atalanta kept their rigid defensive structure, and when Liverpool did breakthrough and create chances, they just couldn’t finish them off.
Pretty much the same story as the last few weeks now. From Manchester United to Crystal Palace – Liverpool have faced the same problem.
Stephen Warnock on Cody Gakpo’s ‘wasteful’ moment against Atalanta
The occasions when Liverpool did breakthrough Atalanta’s defence and looked like they might have a chance to score the players also made the wrong decisions.
Salah squandered a huge chance in the first-half, but there were other moments in the second-half, when Liverpool got into the final third and just made sloppy passes and didn’t look sharp enough.
It is a bitterly disappointing ending for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool reign in Europe. There have been so many highs and lows. But tonight the players only have themselves to blame for not going through.
Arguably, Liverpool’s best chance in the second-half fell to Cody Gakpo, who broke past the Atalanta defence but made a sloppy side pass in the penalty area that was behind Dominik Szoboszlai and wasted a great opportunity.
“They make a mess of it Liverpool,” Stephen Warnock said on BBC 5 Live.
“Cody Gakpo finds himself free and he should lay it off to Dominik Szoboszlai, instead he plays it behind him ruining the move – wasteful.”