Both English clubs were knocked out of Europe on Wednesday night and now Liverpool will be hoping to turn that tide on Thursday.
Arsenal and Manchester City suffered Champions League heartache against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, respectively, to leave Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham United as the only English clubs in Europe.
There were some high-quality players on show at the Allianz Arena as Thomas Tuchel booked his team a ticket for the semi-final of the Champions League.
With Liverpool set to return to Europe’s elite competition next season, it isn’t a surprise that there are a fair few names they are keeping an eye on ahead of the summer transfer window opening.
Of course, fans will have to wait and see who the next manager will be, but that hasn’t stopped the transfer rumours from swirling around.
One rising star the Reds seem to be a fan of is Germany’s next big thing, Jamal Musiala, with the 21-year-old one of the best youngsters in the world.
That was proven against Arsenal, with Theirry Henry claiming that he produced an ‘outstanding’ display in the middle of the park, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (17/04/24 at 11:10 pm).
The legendary forward paid the highest of compliments to the playmaker by claiming that he was the only player who wanted the ball when the pressure was well and truly on.
That bravery all resulted in Bayern making Arsenal’s week from bad to worse after they slipped up in the Premier League title race, just like Liverpool, at the weekend.
Liverpool target Jamal Musiala shines for Bayern Munich
“He was outstanding,” said Henry. “His capacity and ability to just bail you out of any problem. If you can’t pass the ball out from the back, he just takes it and beats one or two men. That has nothing to do with your tactic, that’s just him beating people and beating the line, so you can go up and play.
“We aren’t going to compare him to Eden Hazard who had the capacity and ability to see. His ability and me seeing what he was doing when I was the coach at Belgium. At times, you just give the ball to Eden. If you give it, then give it to Musiala. He will bail you out in the way he plays.
“At that moment in the game, no one wanted the ball. It was kind of weird. He wanted the ball, at his age. He was turning, not being shy, asking for the ball, keeping people away with his body, with the way he was controlling it and going forward with it. That’s second to none when you are in trouble in a game and everyone is kind of hiding and not wanting that ball.”
Can Liverpool avoid Arsenal repeat against Atalanta?
Look, Liverpool have the tougher test, in terms of trying to overcome a 3-0 deficit against Atalanta in the Europa League in Italy.
But look at the mood in the Arsenal camp! After dropping points in the Premier League title race, and now getting booted out of Europe, their morale is on the floor and they are fearing the worst.
The team still has to believe that they can get something from the game and produce one of those European miracles again.
If that happens, then that will translate itself onto the domestic stage and hopefully provide Liverpool with one final burst of energy to help Klopp end on a high.
