Liverpool have five-step plan to topple Atalanta with Champions League blueprint clear
Liverpool head into Thursday's Europa League quarter-final against Atalanta in need of another European miracle
Liverpool will have to channel their European heritage and produce another thrilling comeback if they are to overturn a three-goal aggregate deficit and beat Atalanta on Thursday night.
The Reds were well beaten at Anfield last Thursday as goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Mario Pasalic earned Gian Piero Gasperini's side a shock 3-0 win over the Europa League favourites.
Liverpool travel to Bergamo for the return leg on Thursday and need to score at least three times in 90 minutes if they harbour any hopes of playing in next month's semi-final against either Benfica or Marseille.
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Luckily for Liverpool, they've been here before - and most recently under Jurgen Klopp in 2019 as they toppled Barcelona 4-0 in the Champions League second leg at Anfield after losing 3-0 in Spain - and only a fool would bet against them producing another iconic European comeback.
With that in mind, the ECHO takes a look at what is needed for Liverpool to stage another memorable comeback on the European stage.
5) Liverpool 3-1 Olympiacos (December 2004) - Big players deliver
Liverpool headed into the final game of the 2004/05 Champions League group stage needing to beat Greek side Olympiacos by two clear goals to reach the first knockout round.
That task, though, was made all the more difficult midway through the first half when Rivaldo scored a free-kick to put the visitors ahead and leaving Rafa Benitez's side needing to score three goals in just over an hour at Anfield.
Florent Sinama-Pongolle got the Reds off to a flyer early in the second half before Neil Mellor fired Benitez's side ahead with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
That set the stage for captain fantastic Steven Gerrard to slam home an 86th-minute strike at the Kop end to seal an incredible 3-1 win for Liverpool.
Six months later, they would win the competition after defeating AC Milan in a thrilling final in Istanbul.
In Bergamo on Thursday, Liverpool could need a wonder strike of similar quality. Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez, it's time to deliver.
1 of 54) Liverpool 5-4 Borussia Dortmund (April 2016) - Atmosphere guides Reds home
This Europa League clash with Borussia Dortmund will never be forgotten, not just at Anfield but all across the world.
It was April 2016 and newly-appointed Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp welcomed his former side to Anfield in the last-eight of Europe's secondary competition.
But after a spirited 1-1 draw in Germany seven days earlier, the Reds found themselves on the brink of elimination inside 10 minutes as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang raced the visitors into an early two-goal lead at Anfield.
Divock Origi gave the Reds a glimmer of hope when he slotted past Roman Weidenfeller three minutes into the second half, but that seemed to be extinguished when Marco Reus scored less than 10 minutes later.
That was until Philippe Coutinho and Mamadou Sakho scored in the final 25 minutes to equal the aggregate score at 4-4.
Then, in the 94th minute, Anfield was introduced to its unlikeliest hero, Dejan Lovren, as he connected with James Milner's cross to the back post and prompted bedlam at Anfield.
The 800-strong travelling Kop in Bergamo for Thursday's game will hope they can soundtrack another famous European win, just as they did on home soil all those years ago.
(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)2 of 53) Liverpool 3-1 St Etienne (March 1977) - Substitutes make the difference
Perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in Liverpool's illustrious European history.
In 1977, Liverpool welcomed French champions St Etienne to Anfield in the quarter-finals of the European Cup.
After suffering a 1-0 defeat at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Bob Paisley's side's hopes of progression were made all the more unlikely when Dominique Bathenay put St Etienne 2-1 up on aggregate early in the second half to cancel out Kevin Keegan's opener.
Attacking the Kop in the second half though, Paisley's men restored parity through Ray Kennedy before Anfield's favourite substitute, David Fairclough, raced through on goal in the 84th minute and finished with aplomb to send Liverpool on their way to a first European Cup triumph.
After seeing the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones return from injury in recent weeks, Liverpool will have an impressive list of substitutes to call at the Gewiss Stadium on Thursday.
3 of 52) Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona (May 2019) - Early goal lays the foundations
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Easily the most famous match of Jurgen Klopp's Anfield reign.
Liverpool welcomed Barcelona to Anfield for the second leg of the 2019 Champions League semi-final, trailing 3-0 from the teams' meeting at the Camp Nou one week earlier.
If the task of toppling Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Co wasn't daunting enough, the Reds were to do it without the injured Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. Meaning they had to call on the out-of-favour Divock Origi.
But after Origi put Liverpool ahead with just seven minutes on the clock, it felt inevitable which side would secure progression to the Champions League final, Barcelona unable to come to grips with the febrile atmosphere caused by Origi's opener.
As it happened, the La Liga champions would wilt significantly in the second half as goals from Gini Wijnaldum (2) and Origi again sealed arguably the greatest night in Anfield's history.
And if Liverpool are to pull off a 4-0 against Atalanta, they will need to sport the same clinical edge in attack as their predecessors did against Barcelona five years ago.
4 of 51) Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan (May 2005) - Ride your luck
![Steven Gerrard and Rafa Benitez celebrate with the Champions League trophy in Istanbul]()
It is a game that needs little introduction, and is perhaps the most thrilling European football has ever witnessed.
But Liverpool's 2005 Champions League final success over AC Milan wasn't all plain sailing, with Rafa Benitez's side falling 3-0 down in the first half against a star-studded Milan side boasting the likes of Hernan Crespo, Andriy Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta.
Goals from Maldini and Crespo (2) should have had Carlo Ancelotti's side out of sight - that was until a Steven-Gerrard-inspired comeback forced the game to extra time against all odds.
It was during that extra time period at the Ataturk Stadium that the Italians must have realised that it was Liverpool's name was destined to end up in the European Cup as Jerzy Dudek made an incredible double save to deny Shevchenko from just yards out late on in extra time.
Dudek would go on to save two penalties in the shoot-out as Liverpool, after riding their luck throughout the final, won a fifth European Cup in the most remarkable of circumstances.
(Image: MUSTAFA OZER/AFP via Getty Images)5 of 5
