“There are now only great teams left in the competition,” Klopp told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
When Liverpool plays Atalanta in a Europa League quarterfinal at Anfield on Thursday, manager Jurgen Klopp has instructed his team to get ready for a “super-disciplined” Atalanta.
Although Atalanta defeated Sporting Lisbon of Portugal in the previous round, they have only triumphed in two of their last nine games in all competitions. However, Klopp anticipates that Atalanta, under veteran manager Gian Piero Gasperini, will cause Liverpool issues. “Only elite teams remain in the competition,” Klopp stated on Wednesday during a press conference before the game.
“It’s truly amazing, and we understand what Atalanta stands for.” For years now, Gasperini has been doing an amazing job there, and playing against Italian clubs has never been easy. We need to perform at our highest level to advance past these two legs and into the next round because they are dangerous and well-coordinated tactically,” he continued.
During his final season at Anfield, Klopp mentioned that Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, and Diogo Jota—all of whom had been out since February—might play against Atalanta. Klopp remarked, “Obviously, we didn’t rush it with the boys.” This indicates that they trained extensively on their own. Trent and Diogo had been working together for two or three weeks and were able to perform extremely good training.
