Liverpool supporters left in disbelief at bizarre Atalanta away end as tiny away allocation explained

Liverpool have a mountain to climb if they wish to make it to the semi-final of the Europa League, but there will still be belief that the team can turn the tie around - especially from the fans who have made the journey to Italy.

The Reds fell to a 3-0 home defeat in the first leg in what was a night to forget at Anfield last week. It means that they will have to score at least three unreturned goals in the second leg away from home if they have any hopes of making it through the tie.

To make it even more difficult, Liverpool will be backed by a significantly reduced away following than they normally would have. Around 750 away supporters are expected at the Stadio di Bergamo on Thursday night.

READ MORE: Darwin Nunez drops out as Liverpool make three changes to team for Atalanta

READ MORE: 'How often did it happen' - Jurgen Klopp granted his wish for Liverpool but it's come too late

The reduced allocation is due to the stadium currently undergoing work to increase its capacity. It usually holds around 21,000, but in a redevelopment to increase that number to 25,000, capacity has temporarily been reduced to around 16,000, which has severely impacted the number of away tickets on offer.

There has also been disbelief about where the travelling fans will be watching the action from. The current away end is a small, uncovered temporary-looking stand in the corner of the stadium, and is surrounded with what looks like a glass fence-like structure.

Supporters who will be housed in the stand will hope that it’s a night that they will be talking about for years to come.

The winners of the tie on Thursday night will face either Benfica or Marseille in the semi-final of the competition. Benfica currently lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate after the first leg.