There were very, very few positives for Liverpool last night as they were thrashed by Atalanta.
In one of the most humbling evenings of the manager’s entire reign, the Reds were slotted 3-0 at Anfield in the Europa League.
The match was littered with poor displays from those in red. So bad were they, that Liverpool became the butt of jokes from Atalanta players after the game.
Jurgen Klopp didn’t seem to be able to give an explanation for exactly why his team were so bad, either. Although they were still praised post-match by winning manager Gian Piero Gasperini, they did not deserve those words of comfort.
Nevertheless, you’ve always got to try and take something from a performance, no matter how disappointing. And for Liverpool, the only real bright spot last night was a return to action for Diogo Jota.
Diogo Jota finally makes injury comeback
In the days before the game, the talk had been about Klopp receiving a triple boost. All of Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Stefan Bajcetic made the matchday squad last night.
The positivity from seeing three big players return for Liverpool obviously didn’t last long yesterday, but hopefully a longer-term benefit will still be felt for the Reds’ season.
Jota in particular has been a big miss. The 27-year-old was in terrific form before his untimely injury in February.
And although he did miss a couple of decent looking headed chances, Jota looked lively right from his 76th minute introduction.
Klopp seemed to agree. Speaking in his post-match press conference, the manager admitted that Liverpool ‘changed’ in a positive way after the forward’s introduction.
“Then Diogo [Jota] came on, we cannot use him now just because we think now he’s the solution or whatever,” Klopp explained. “He needs time as well but he came on and just [had] no bad experience or whatever in the whole game for weeks and months, so just happy to play – and you could see that changed a lot.”
How did Diogo Jota play for Liverpool
As soon as he was brought on, Jota made a difference for Liverpool. His first touch was to turn an Atalanta defender and win a free-kick just outside the box.
In truth, that was about as good as it got for Diogo. He was clearly a little rusty in his passing and finishing.
Still, even though he only spent 14 minutes on the pitch, the Portugal international was one of Liverpool’s more lively players on the night.
Having scored a hat-trick against Atalanta in the away game against them four years ago, the Reds will be hoping Jota can play a bigger role in the second-leg. Klopp suggested that he won’t be starting his No.20 at the weekend, but if he can come on and play a part, he should be primed to go in Bergamo.