Well, it was exactly what we expected. Liverpool went ahead and minutes later, after Mohamed Salah's penalty hit the bottom corner of the goal, there were doubts that there would be another big European red comeback.
Liverpool wisely resisted the urge to race to a two-goal lead, even though Salah grabbed the ball after the spot-kick and immediately put it into the centre. Atalanta posed enough of a threat on the counter-attack to expose how foolish Jurgen Klopp had been to take off his crampons so quickly and try to free-climb. That route would obviously lead to a bad fall.
The Bergamesque Alps are too steep for sick Liverpool to climb.
But after a disastrous first leg and an equally disastrous and sloppy performance against Crystal Palace, Liverpool needed to step up, and the three-goal Belgamesques The peak was always too high for the injured climber, meaning it was likely too steep. Scale up to completion.
There were occasional moments of similar laxity in possession, but there were signs that Liverpool were becoming better and more capable. Simply put, they produced far less crap than what they produced in their last two awful outings.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold back on the wing, passing range has increased. With Salah, Codi Gakpo and Luis Diaz running through the middle, Liverpool plow a narrow groove until the final 20 minutes, rarely darting out wide, giving ideal targets for the similarly tight-positioned full-backs. There was fear. From above.
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Three big sliding door moments happened just three minutes apart late in the first half, just as either team's goal would have set the stage for the second half. Salah jumped on Gakpo's ball over the top, but was unable to finish the story Coady had written and tried to lob the stuck goalkeeper, only to see his brilliant shot go further and further wide of the goal. I just watched in amazement.
Moments later, Atalanta put the ball into the net, but Teun Copeminers was almost offside. Still, it served as a reminder to Liverpool of the dangers of overcommitting and underthinking.
Then, controversially, Isak Hien handled the through ball with irony. Otherwise Dias would have given Salah a chance to show him how it's done. As the penalty box was still 15-20 yards away, the referee decided that the scoring opportunity was not clear enough to warrant a red card and issued a yellow instead.
You can see Liverpool's case being made strongly enough for Dias to earn his own warning. But on reflection, it was probably the right decision.
Liverpool were suspended in the second half and were eliminated from the Europa League without any fuss.
This left two possibilities in the second period. It could have ended badly for Liverpool, or it could have been a total disaster.
I got the first one.
Going from formidable to disciplined is a small, if not overwhelming, step up, and Klopp needs a fresh start as he looks to regain momentum towards winning the Premier League title. will be possible.
Given the magnitude of their task here, he will take encouragement from the fact that his team responded, even if they fell short of the full brilliance required. In fact, the first half looked nervy at times, but as the game progressed they grew and calmed down, and Liverpool's brilliant Liverpool display against Atalanta, who were forced to withdraw their newly-returned side, It might not even have come close. brighter stars.
This leaves Aston Villa as England's only representative in Europe. And, of course, the title race will be contested by three teams with nothing more notable than Manchester City's FA Cup games one and two.
Really, this says it all. Bloody surprises aside, the night will always ultimately be judged in terms of what it told us about Liverpool's chances of winning the title. The answer is…honestly, it doesn't really matter. It's certainly gotten better, but it still has a long way to go before it can be convincing again.