On Thursday, Liverpool lost 0-3 at home to Atalanta in the first leg of the quarter-finals, leaving their hopes of the Europa League slim. Leverkusen defeated West Ham United to extend their unbeaten record this season. . Liverpool are hoping to play their last game in the Europa League final of this season in Dublin on May 22 before Jurgen Klopp steps down as manager, but face a turnaround in eight games after a strong performance at Atalanta The arduous task of strengthening the record.

Liverpool, who started with substitutes Mohamed Salah and Dominic Szoboszlai, came agonizingly close to opening the scoring when Harvey Elliott’s shot hit the crossbar and hit the post on the backside. record.

Atalanta took the lead seven minutes before half-time when Davide Zappacosta’s low cross from the right was met by former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca.

The player made it 2-0 with a brilliant shot, assisted by Charles De Ketelaere.

Salah, who came on as a substitute at the beginning of the second half, had a goal ruled out for offside, and Atlanta made it 3-0 with 7 minutes left.

Caoimhin Kelleher passed for Ederson’s shot, and Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic, who played for Chelsea but did not play in the first team, then scored.

The team ranked sixth in Serie A achieved a stunning victory, ending Liverpool’s 33-game unbeaten run at home.

“It hurts, we haven’t lost here for a long time,” Liverpool captain Van Dijk said. “They punished us for being sloppy with the ball.

“It’s definitely going to hurt tonight and then starting tomorrow we need to open it back up to get results.”

Recent history suggests there is still hope for Klopp’s side, who beat Atalanta 5-0 away in Bergamo in the 2020/21 Champions League group stage, but they also lost to the Italian side at Anfield .

In Germany, defending Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen defeated West Ham United 2-0, achieving a 42-match unbeaten run this season and locking the initiative in the quarter-finals.

Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface both came off the bench to score late on for Xabi Alonso’s side to open the scoring The record was set in the 83rd minute and the second goal came in stoppage time.

– Roma, Benfica win –
The victory could cap a stunning week for Leverkusen, who move 16 points ahead of Bayern Munich in Germany and look to win their first Bundesliga title with a home win over Werder Bremen on Sunday.

“The expectations are huge – they can’t be any higher,” Alonso told reporters.

“We have a chance on Sunday – if we win we are champions. We need to step up and it will be something very special,” he said.

If Leverkusen completes their tie against West Ham, they will advance to the semi-finals to face either AC Milan or Roma, who play out their quarter-final first leg at the San Siro on Thursday.

Roma beat their Serie A rivals 1-0 on the road thanks to Gianluca Mancini’s 17th-minute corner kick header. Mancini also scored the winning goal in the Rome derby against Lazio last weekend.

“It was a good night for us. I couldn’t ask for more this week,” Mancini told broadcaster Rai.

Thursday’s other game saw Benfica beat Marseille 2-1 in the first leg of their quarter-final tie in Lisbon.

Half-time goals from Rafa Silva and Angel Di Maria put Portugal firmly in control of the game, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s strike midway through the second half Giving Marseille hope of returning next week.

Aubameyang is the top scorer in Europa League history, scoring 10 goals in 10 games this season.

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