Liverpool’s hopes of winning the UEFA Europa League were left hanging by a thread on Thursday after they lost 3-0 at home to Atalanta BC in the first leg of their quarter-final, while Bayer 04 Leverkusen beat West Ham United to extend their unbeaten record this season.
Liverpool are hoping to make this season’s Europa League final in Dublin on May 22 their final game before Juergen Klopp steps down as manager, but they face a monumental task to turn their last-eight tie around after a stunning Atalanta performance.
Liverpool, who started with Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai among the substitutes, saw Harvey Elliott come agonizingly close to opening the scoring with a shot that hit the bar and struck the post on its way back out.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Atalanta then took the lead seven minutes before halftime when Davide Zappacosta’s low ball in from the right was finished off by former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca.
The same player made it 2-0 on the hour mark with a fine finish from Charles de Ketelaere’s assist.
Salah, who had come on at the start of the second half, then had a goal disallowed for offside before Atalanta made it 3-0 with seven minutes left.
Photo: Reuters
Caoimhin Kelleher spilled a shot by Ederson and Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic, who once belonged to Chelsea, but did not play a first-team game, followed in to score.
The stunning victory for the side who sit sixth in Serie A ended Liverpool’s 33-game unbeaten run at home.
“It hurts, we didn’t lose here for a long time,” Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said. “They punished us for being sloppy in possession. This will definitely hurt tonight and then from tomorrow we need to switch it back on to get a result.”
Photo: Reuters
Recent history suggests there is still hope for Klopp’s side, as they won 5-0 away to Atalanta in Bergamo in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2020-2021, a campaign in which they also lost to the Italian side at Anfield.
In Germany, Bundesliga champions-elect Leverkusen made it 42 games without losing in any competition this season as they beat West Ham 2-0 to seize control of their quarter-final.
Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface both came off the bench to score late goals for Xabi Alonso’s side, with the opener arriving in the 83rd minute and the second coming in stoppage-time.
The victory continues what could be a stunning week for Leverkusen, who are 16 points clear of Bayern Munich in Germany and can win their first Bundesliga title by beating Werder Bremen at home tomorrow.
Alonso told reporters “the anticipation is huge — it couldn’t be bigger.”
“We have a chance on Sunday — if we win, we’re champions. We need to step on the gas and it would be something very special to achieve,” he said.
If Leverkusen finish the job against West Ham they would advance to a semi-final against either AC Milan or AS Roma, who clashed at the San Siro in the first leg of their quarter-final.
Roma ran out 1-0 winners on the night away to their Serie A rivals thanks to Gianluca Mancini’s 17th-minute header from a corner. Mancini had also scored the winner in the Rome derby against SS Lazio last weekend.
“It’s a great night for us. I couldn’t have asked for more from this week,” Mancini told broadcaster Rai.
Thursday’s other game saw SL Benfica beat Olympique de Marseille 2-1 in Lisbon in the first leg of their quarter-final.
Goals by Rafa Silva and Angel di Maria either side of the break put the Portuguese side firmly in command, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal midway through the second half gave Marseille hope for the return leg next week.
Aubameyang is the Europa League’s all-time top scorer and has 10 goals in 10 games in the competition this season.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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