Liverpool face the mammoth task of overturning a three-goal deficit in their Europa League quarter-final second leg at Atalanta on Thursday night.
But before the match, manager Jurgen Klopp and fit-again goalkeeper Alisson Becker will speak to the media at a press conference at 7pm this evening (UK time). Ian Doyle will be in Bergamo and Paul Gorst back in Liverpool as we bring you live updates.
The Reds suffered a shock 3-0 defeat in the first leg at Anfield last Thursday. Former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca scored twice for Atalanta, whose commanding advantage means Liverpool will need to achieve one of, if not, the biggest comebacks in the club's illustrious European history, if they are to progress to the Europa League semi-finals.
The Reds' miserable week continued on Sunday as they went down 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League. But the positive for Klopp is that he has an almost fully fit squad to choose from.
*The final weeks of Jurgen Klopp's glorious nine years at Liverpool are almost over.
And to celebrate the end of one of the greatest managerial reigns ever at Anfield, the ECHO have produced a 64-page standalone in tribute to the charismatic Reds boss. Order your copy now by clicking here.
Klopp on man-marking
We played four years ago against Atalanta and they played like this, and the result was different here. Man-marking is not the problem, we didn't do really well and they did well. We have to do better. We played into their hands.
Tomorrow the game is more difficult as they don't have to score at all. Not sure what they're going to do. It's not easy when you're 3-0 up. We found that out when we won 5-0 here, we lost 2-0 in the home game. We will see who deals better with the situation. If Atalanta go through then they deserve it, if not then something special has happened.
Klopp on Bradley injury
If we want to win then we better not concede, that is clear. That is a big part of the match plan.
Conor Bradley has had an injury like Ryan Gravenberch had, has a couple of things so he could be back first week in May, he overstreched the ligaments a bit so serious enough that he's not here.
Klopp on whether he'll make another speech before game
Yeah, I've written it already! I remember I don't usually prepare for this. What I will say to the boys I will think about tomorrow. But definitely nothing bout these kind of things in press conference. I remember saying if we fail, let's fail in the most beautiful way and I'll say that again. A lot of supporters thought that was it (after first leg) but now less people think it is already decided. We are here, that's good. Let's see. If we win the players will find a reason to say what I said, but if we lose nobody will know what I said.
Klopp on Barcelona comparison
What is similar? The result definitely. The performance not really, we lost 3-0 in Barcelona and people didn't know how and now we lost 3-0 at home and are now away, it's a massive difference.
We are here and will try to win the game, that's all. That's what we should do. We shall see if that's possible. A lot of moments we had really good moments but they completely deserved to win and played a good game. Let's start with a much better performance and try to win the game and we will see how much time is left at the end.
Alisson on previous visits here keeping clean sheets
We start from that. This has to be our goal for hte rest of the season, next season and seasons to come. Keeping clean sheets is the basis for a successful team, we did that in the past and the trophies we won we were solid defensive wise. That's not only depending on the defenders but the whole team, we have to defend together and fight to get the ball back, close gaps, win challenges, block shots, stopping crosses, making difficult saves, we have to do that as a team, go back to get the clean sheets. That's the basis for us, not only for tomorrow but for the rest.
Alisson on injuries
It was really hard for me. I am a guy that when I am at home, injury or just resting I don't like to watch football as I get too excited and want to play. I wnat to be part of every game but I know it wasn't possible for me. I tried to make my best in the recovery and spent a lot of time on the bed having treatment and a lot of time in the gym to be strong when I came back, to be in a good shape and maybe better than I was before. That's how I feel. It was eight weeks doing double sessions every day sometimes three sessions, it was really hard for me. Seeing the team fighting for titles, I have a lot of desire to be part of that fight. Thank God I am here and looking forward to the rest of the season.
Alisson on form
Two bad results. We cannot make the mistake to make it bigger than it is. Of course, losing 3-0 at home is something we can't accept as LFC players. We have to improve our performances but if I was being more precise the htings we have to do better is we have to go back to keeping clean sheets and scoring the chances we have, the clear chances we have in front of goal. I'm saying that because I trust a lot my strikeers and defenders and I know the quality we have as a team. If we attack and defend as a team then we can go back to winning games.
Alisson on Atalanta
I did expect Atapanta to be like that eve rsicne I moved to Italy right up unti now Atalanta have aways been a tough nut to crack. They are a very physical side, it has always been a tough match to come up against them. They play 11 v 11 man-marking all over the pitch and when you play agiant a team who do that you need to make sure you are willing to work hard and run. If you don't do that it is pointless even going out to play in the first place. They did an outstanding job in the last game, you could see they rpepared very well and in regards to us we also produced a bad performance
Alisson on belief
As I said before, we did it in the past great things, great achievements you can see in the history of football that teams have oercome bad results and turned around and qualified for the next stage in competitions like that, in European competitions. Of course we have to believe in ourselves but in my opinion it's a really difficult situation, the way the opponent played at our home showed their quality and how tough the game will be tomorrow. We come here with a goal to improve our performence in repsect to the last game and try to play better as a team, that's a team we didn't do in the last match. Try to avoid some mistakes and try to do better the things we have to do better. Then we will see the result of that.
Alisson on Barcelona comeback comparisons
Good evening. Not so many I don't think apart form the result. We are playing the second leg away, that game was second leg at home. Different players. Different competition. There are more differences than similarities. It's a completely different situation and we have to deal with it differently as well.
They're here
Alisson Becker is among us. We're ready to rock and roll with this press conference...
Inside the Gewiss Stadium
Tomorrow’s events will take place here #LFC pic.twitter.com/E9Lv2TuCu1
— Ian Doyle (@IanDoyleSport) April 17, 2024
Round the ground
Had a lap of the Gewiss Stadium here, which isn't quite fully renovated. Can confirm it's a long, long walk around it.
Inside it looks pretty snazzy and isn't far off being finished. However, it looks as though one of the ends behind a goal will not be fully operational. Not least because there are no seats in half of it.
Yo from Bergamo
Hello here in Italy where it's quite nice for the time of evening, which is just gone 7.30pm.
There isn't much excitement around the town yet - but that will surely change tomorrow.
Jurgen Klopp press conference LIVE
Liverpool trained earlier today at the AXA Training Centre but they have now flown out to Bergamo for the crunch Europa League second leg against Atalatna.
Jurgen Klopp and Alisson Becker are expected to be with us at 7pm UK time.
Gian Pero Gasperini discusses Liverpool second-leg
Right then, enough faffing about - let's get into it.
Atalanta boss Gian Pero Gasperini is certainly not writing Liverpool off despite trailing 3-0 in the Europa League quarter-final tie between the teams.
"We are happy to play a match of this value in front of our fans, finally with the stadium taking shape," Gasperini said. "We know that it will be one of the most important games in our history, if not the most important.
"But these are things that are said on the eve of the game, then comes the moment when we will have to know how to isolate ourselves. We know the difficulty, for us they are still the same team, despite us winning the first leg. Tomorrow we start from 0-0, our ability will have to be not thinking about the result of the first leg, that has to be our goal.
"I expect the best Liverpool possible, with a team that will come here to play all its chances, we will have to play a great game to get a result."
Major boost for Liverpool
No, not the chocolate bar... although it would be nice.
But on Wednesday, there were no additional injury concerns for Jurgen Klopp as his Liverpool players were put through their paces at open training ahead of Thursday's Europa League tie at Atalanta.
The Reds players warmed up in front of the media at the club's AXA Training Centre with Klopp now in possession with what is as close to a clean bill of health for his squad as he has had virtually all season.
To rotate or to not rotate - to rest or not to rest
Who plays? Who is rested?
Conor Bradley suffered an ankle injury during Sunday's defeat to Crystal Palace so Trent Alexander-Arnold could well get his first start since returning from an injury of his own. And is it time to throw the fit-again Diogo Jota back into the starting line-up.
After the 3-0 first-leg defeat, Reds legend Jamie Carragher tweeted: "Awful result and performance from Liverpool. The only consolation about getting beat so heavily is Jürgen should play a full second string in the second leg and go all in for the league!"
At the Grand National on Saturday, he rectified his comments adding: "When I said 'second string' I wasn't talking about the kids. I meant, you know, give Trent [Alexander-Arnold] a game, give Diogo Jota a game, Curtis Jones, maybe the goalkeeper (Alisson Becker) plays.
"When you've got to play four away days in 10 days — because they've got to go to Atalanta on the Thursday and then Fulham on the Sunday — I was just thinking playing your best team and trying to give it absolutely everything and it might not be enough, because it is going to be tough.
"Then you go Fulham and you're not at your best and it doesn't go well at Fulham, you are then falling behind in the league. The Premier League title is so much bigger than the Europa League. We all want to win both but we have put ourselves in a difficult position and we have still got ourselves in a great position in the league.
"We're in a better position in the league than we are now in the Europa League, so for me, I just think the league is too important, especially if we win against Crystal Palace. Fulham is much more important than Atalanta and even getting through."
A lot has changed since then, with the Reds and Arsenal both losing on Sunday to hand the Premier League title initiative to Manchester City. But with just two points separating the sides, Jurgen Klopp does have something of a selection dilemma. Wholesale changes and concentrate getting back on track in the league at Fulham on Sunday? Or go full strength at Atalanta?
Hello and welcome
The minutes and hours count down to Liverpool's Europa League second-leg in Bergamo.
What an achievement it would be if the Reds overturn this deficit.
At this stage of the season, with hopes of winning the Premier League hanging on by a thread, surely a win and a good performance is the most important thing?
