'Against a team of greats' - Atalanta boss admits concern over Liverpool history

Gian Piero Gasperini has described Atalanta's Europa League quarter-final tie against Liverpool as arguably the biggest game in the club's history.

And after referencing the Liverpool's historic comeback in the 2005 Champions League final as a reason for why his team cannot switch off after their 3-0 win at Anfield in the first leg, the Italian coach said he expects to see the best version of Jurgen Klopp's team at the Gewiss Stadium.

Mario Pasalic added to Gianluca Scamacca's brace last week to leave Atalanta firmly in the driving seat ahead of the second leg in Bergamo on Thursday night. However, the Reds have previous for such turnarounds under Klopp in Europe.

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They can lay claim to having beaten Barcelona 4-0 at home in the semi-final of the Champions League five years ago, having lost the first leg at the Nou Camp 3-0, and Borussia Dortmund to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, despite being 3-1 down with 25 minutes to go in 2016.

It is the famous win over AC Milan in 2005, however, that Gasperini noted when talking up his visitors' chances on producing another dramatic comeback. "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.

"We have to think about having to qualify by starting from 0-0 on this pitch Liverpool is always a great team. In this period the championships are seeing strange results, everyone gives 110%.

"But Liverpool remains one of the greatest teams in the world. We have to approach the match like in Liverpool, thinking of having to score and get a result."

Speaking to Sky Italy on Monday, Gasperini said after a 2-2 Serie A home draw: "Verona managed to score two goals against us in four minutes so we need to be careful.

"Liverpool are a team that came back from three goals down in a Champions League final against a team of greats (Milan). We know that nothing has been decided and that we will have to play really well."

Midfielder Marten de Roon said: "I don't think only in Bergamo, but I believe that all of Italy will be behind us tomorrow. It's a very special game, playing against an important team is really special, we want to do our best, like we did there.

"For the home fans, their hopes of seeing their team play in a European final for the first time ever are still very much alive. I saw the happiness of the fans after the victory.

"I think this could be a small dream for all of Bergamo, now it's up to us to make everything even more special by moving on to the next round."