Liverpool are making Jurgen Klopp promises look empty as careless manager mistakes clear

Not-so-beautiful-failure

Officially, the record books will say that Liverpool were victorious in this game.

But while a three-match winless run was arrested courtesy of Mohamed Salah's early penalty, there won't have been anyone shuffling out of Gewiss Stadium reflecting on a job well done for Jurgen Klopp's side.

Klopp had promised on Wednesday that if his team had to bow out of the Europa League then they would do so in the "most beautiful way" but much like the promise of a reaction at home to Crystal Palace last week after the 3-0 first-leg humbling, it proved to be little more than a neat, largely empty soundbite.

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The Reds boss and his famed oratory skills were enough for some to believe that a third famous European fightback on his watch was on the cards before kick off in Bergamo, but this was not a failure in the most beautiful way. Quite the opposite in many ways, despite the win.

In truth, this was an ugly game and a shrugging emoji of a performance from Liverpool, who seemed oddly indifferent to the plight that saw them needing three goals just to force extra time.

The all-round display betrayed the need to fight, to chase and, most pertinently, shoot past Atalanta's goalkeeper, Juan Musso, who, Salah's penalty aside, was rarely troubled all night. The Reds' slender victory, in fact, was probably fortunate.

So rather than rage against their fate by producing a stirring response or a memorable rallying, there will instead be no fond farewell for Klopp at Dublin's AVIVA Stadium next month. The manager who guided the club to its sixth European Cup in Madrid five years ago instead saw his final game on the continent play out at a half-built stadium against Italy's sixth best team. That is kind of how it has gone for the Reds since a 2-2 draw with Manchester United earlier this month.

Liverpool's season has veered way off course since then. The Dublin dream is dead and Manchester City, in a predictably grim turn of events, now have firm control over the destination of the Premier League title as things stand. Klopp's team are in a rut at the worst possible time, despite what the record books will say about this evening.

Consistent back five now key

A morsel of good news on the night was the fact that Klopp was able to field what most would deem to be his 'first choice' back five.

This was just the third time this season - and first since August - that the manager had been able to pick Alisson Becker behind a defensive lineup of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson from the start of match.

While the Reds and their injuries have proven that it is a squad game more than ever at the elite level, Klopp simply hasn't been able to build from a solid, consistent base at the back. Atalanta had already won this tie at Anfield last week, but Van Dijk and co can at least point to a clean sheet at Gewiss Stadium.

The Reds captain did just that, in fact, telling TNT Sport after the game: "We won this game and we had a clean sheet, there are positives to take." He is right to an extent, even if it might not feel like it to supporters who've had their weekend ruined before it's started. The fitness of all five players coupled with the shut-out itself is something to build on at a time when the front players have alarmingly regressed.

Liverpool's first clean sheet since the 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on March 2 may not necessarily be cause for bombastic statements about winning the title but a more settled defensive system, with the same players consistently in those positions, can only help for what we now know for certain are the final six games of Klopp's time.

Who is next in the hotseat?

While Liverpool were meekly tumbling out of the Europa League, the manager who so many want to fill the yawning void soon to be left by Jurgen Klopp was quietly going about his business of securing a semi-final place over in east London.

There will be no narrative-riddled showdown with Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin next month but that won't be the fault of the former Reds midfielder, who has kept up his end of the bargain all the way. A 1-1 draw with West Ham United sees Leverkusen into the last four courtesy of a 3-1 aggregate victory over David Moyes's side. They will meet Roma for a place in the final.

It's now 44 games unbeaten this season for Alonso's recently-crowned Bundesliga champions and while Liverpool supporters wouldn't trade Klopp for anyone in world football, the impending exit of their vaunted manager has been compounded by the Leverkusen coach's decision to stay put in Germany for at least another season.

The public confirmation of that stance from Alonso earlier this month means further overtures will be futile, unless there is the sort of shock U-turn that would surely erode his standing in the eyes of a Leverkusen fanbase who now worship him. But it could be argued that a failure to throw the kitchen sink at their offer, informal or otherwise, means they might have allowed a suitable replacement for the irreplaceable to have slipped by them.

To lose one world-class manager this summer may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness.