The Times - UK (2020-11-26)

68 2GM Thursday November 26 2020 | the times

SportChampions League

Wijnaldum, had converged upon the

Atalanta striker as he surged into the

area. The Spanish referee Carlos del

Cerro Grande concurred. Yet the

Greece international is still settling in.

There was less mitigation for others.

On occasions, there were tweaks to

Liverpool’s approach. Sadio Mané and

Salah occasionally swapped positions

with Divock Origi, who moved to the

flank before returning to a role through

the middle, but Atalanta remained

resolute with seven players strung out

across the pitch in a line. The blockade

would not be breached.

It was to be expected that the visitors,

anxious to show themselves in a better

light, would prove less accommodating.

They had broken behind Liverpool’s

makeshift backline when Cristian

Romero picked out Robin Gosens in the

opening skirmishes.

The left-wing back sought to squeeze

in a shot at the near post and Alisson

produced a strong right-handed save.

Soon after, Gómez shot wide from the

edge of the area.

Certainly, the ability of Gómez to in-

duce moments of panic was not heeded.

As Liverpool prepared their changes,

he picked up possession on Atalanta’s

right and delivered a clever cross, which

a sliding Ilicic dispatched.

Having been breached for the first

time in the competition, Klopp then

watched, grim-faced, as his team were

undone again in slipshod fashion.

Another Gómez cross enabled right-

wing back Hans Hateboer to win a

header above Robertson and pick out

the unmarked Gosens. His side-footed

finish found the net with Alisson left

exposed after Rhys Williams had

switched off.

There would be no riposte from the

hosts, who play Ajax next Tuesday

knowing a win or possibly a point will

earn a place in the last 16.

That the malaise could not be lifted

by the arrival of the substitutes will irk

Klopp. On the eve of the contest he had

labelled Firmino as someone who

plays “12 instruments” in Liverpool’s

orchestra.

Without him — and then with him —

there were, for once, only bum notes.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 6 — N Williams 5,

J Matip 5 (T Minamino 85min), R Williams 5,

K Tsimikas 6 (A Robertson 61, 5) — C Jones 6,

G Wijnaldum 6 (Fabinho 61, 6), J Milner 6 —

M Salah 5 (R Firmino 61 6), D Origi 5 (D Jota 61),

S Mané 5. Booked Tsimikas.

Atalanta (3-4-1-2): P Gollini 7 — R Toloi 7,

C Romero 7, B Djimsiti 7 — H Hateboer 7,

M De Roon 7, R Freuler 7, R Gosens 7 (J Mojica

75) — M Pessina 7 (A Miranchuk 85) — A Gomez

8, J Ilicic 7 (D Zapata 70). Booked De Roon.

Referee C Del Cerro Grande (Sp)

Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino had
been first to appear, followed by
Andrew Robertson and Fabinho. It was
just before the hour mark when
Jürgen Klopp determined enough was
enough and beckoned the cavalry to
the touchline.
If the Liverpool manager anticipated
that new life would suddenly be
breathed into a hitherto tepid contest
he was right, though after that is where
his script went awry.
As the quartet awaited their en-
trance, Atalanta seized the advantage
and then, before the Liverpool re-
inforcements could gain their bearings,
the away side doubled their lead. Papu
Gómez, an Argentinian wearing the
No 10 jersey, created the goals only four
minutes apart and, on this night of all
nights, that somehow seemed fitting.
Having embarrassed the Italians
when winning 5-0 in Bergamo three
weeks ago, Liverpool managed only
four shots in total here, none of them to
test the reflexes of Pierluigi Gollini, the
Italy goalkeeper.
The irritation of a flat, dishevelled
display was accompanied by the incon-
venience the outcome brought.
Liverpool remain top of group D but
their hopes of progressing into the
knockout stages of the Champions
League with games to spare were
suddenly checked. There will be no im-
mediate easing of a congested schedule.
“A deserved defeat in a bad game,”
was Klopp’s neat appraisal.
As he found out last night, the trouble
with constantly having to think a step
ahead with line-ups while also im-
mersed in an injury crisis is that
the prospect of tripping up in the
meantime becomes real.
Klopp, under-
standably, opted
for a team selec-
tion with one eye
on the trip to
Brighton & Hove
Albion on Saturday and the
12.30pm kick-off that he so
loathes when his side are in
European action on a
Wednesday night.
There were five changes
and the inclusion of Neco
Williams, Rhys Williams

and Curtis Jones meant Liverpool

became the first team to name three

British teenagers in their starting XI for

a Champions League encounter since

Arsenal named four against

Olympiacos 11 years ago.

However, there remained plenty of

experience around them and Klopp

was entitled to feel disappointed by the

tentative display. There were too many

loose passes to leave their rhythm

fractured and attacks disappeared

down cul-de-sacs long before they

threatened to reach the Atalanta goal.

Indeed, it took Liverpool 44 minutes

to even register an attempt at Gollini,

who was happy to see a rising drive

from the returning Mohamed Salah,

who had tested negative for coronavi-

rus under Uefa’s protocols on Monday,

clear his crossbar.

The lack of creativity was alarming

and served to illustrate that while

Klopp does have strength in depth it

remains harder to locate in some areas

than others. Excluding domestic cup

competitions, this was the first time

since a Premier League game at

Burnley at the start of December

2018 that both Trent Alexander-

Arnold (injured here) and Robert-

son (rested) had not started.

Their understudies at full

back — Neco Williams and

Kostas Tsimikas — cannot

be expected to match their

menace, but how Liverpool

suffered as a consequence.

Tsimikas, a summer

recruit from Olympiacos,

cut a tenacious figure at

left back, chasing down

rivals and throwing him-

self into challenges.

He was also quick to

admonish Josip Ilicic for

what he considered a dive

after both he, and Georginio

Results

Football

Champions League
Group A
A Madrid (0) 0 L Moscow (0) 0

B Munich (1) 3 R B Salzburg(0) 1
Lewandowski 42
Wober (og) 52
Sane 68
Sent off: Roca 66

Berisha 73

P WDLFA GD Pts
B Munich (Q).......... 440 0 15 4 11 12
Atletico Madrid.....412147-35
L Moscow................. 40 3 14 5 -1 3
R B Salzburg...........40 1 3 714-7 1

Group B
Borussia M(3) 4 S Donetsk (0) 0
Stindl 17 (pen)
Elvedi 34
Embolo 45+1
Wendt 77
I Milan (0) 0 R Madrid (1) 2
Sent off: Vidal 33 Hazard 7 (pen)
Rodrygo 59

P WDLFA GD Pts

Borussia M 4220144108

Real Madrid.............42 1 197 27

S Donetsk.................4112312-94

Inter Milan............... 40 224 7 -3 2

Group C

Marseilles (0) 0 FC Porto (1) 2

Sent off: Balerdi 70 Sanusi 39

Sergio Oliveira 72

(pen)

Sent off: Grujic 67

Olympiacos(0) 0 Man City (1) 1

Foden 36

6 Table on page 69

Group D

Ajax (0) 3 Midtjylland(0) 1

Gravenberch 47

Mazraoui 49

Neres 66

Mabil 80 (pen)

Sent off:

Sviatchenko 90+1

Liverpool (0) 0 Atalanta (0) 2

Ilicic 60

Gosens 64

6 Table above

Scottish Premiership

Hamilton (0) 1 Aberdeen (1) 1

Ogbkmpoe 49 Hedges 19

Sky Bet Championship

P WDL FA GD Pts

Norwich................... 13 8 3 2 17 10 7 27

Bournemouth....... 13 75 1 2111 10 26

Bristol City.............. 13 73 3 16 11 5 24

Swansea................... 13 6 5 2 15 8 7 23

Watford.................... 13 6 5 2 15 10 5 23

Reading.................... 13 72 4 20 17 3 23

Middlesbrough.... 13 56 2 12 6 6 21

Stoke.......................... 13 6 3 4 21 18 3 21

Brentford................ 13 55 3 18 12 6 20

Millwall..................... 13 4 7 2 12 10 2 19

Luton......................... 13 544 11 13-2 19

Blackburn............... 13 53 5 25 15 10 18

QPR............................. 13 4 5 4 15 18-3 17

Barnsley................... 13 4 4 5 14 14 0 16

Preston..................... 13 5 1 7 16 17 -1 16

Huddersfield......... 13 4 3 6 15 17-2 15

Birmingham.......... 13 36 4 10 12-2 15

Cardiff....................... 13 35 5 13 13 0 14

Rotherham............. 13 33 7 12 16 -4 12

Nottm Forest........ 13 337 9 16 -7 12

Coventry.................. 13 33 7 13 23 -10 12

Wycombe................ 13 238 6 19 -13 9

Sheffield Wed....... 13 346 7 12-5 7*

Derby......................... 13 1 39 5 20 -15 6

*Sheff Wed deducted six points

Bristol C (0) 0 Watford (0) 0

Coventry (0) 1 Cardiff (0) 0

Walker 54

M’brough (1) 3 Derby (0) 0

Assombalonga 33

Clarke (og) 71

Johnson 83

Millwall (1) 1 Reading (0) 1

Wallace 45+1 Joao 53

Swansea (0) 1 Sheff Wed (1) 1

A Ayew 60 Reach 27

Snooker

Milton Keynes: Betway UK Championship

first round (selected results) S Bingham

(Eng) 6 Z Surety (Eng) 2; N Robertson (Aus)

6 B Ochoiski (Fr) 0; R O’Sullivan (Eng) 6 L

Fernandez (Ire) 0; J Perry (Eng) 6 A Borg

(Malta) 0; J White (Eng) 6 A McManus (Scot)

4; S Akani (Thai) 6 K Filipiak (Pol) 1; J Brown

(N Ire) 6 M Gould (Eng) 5; A Higginson (Eng)

6 J Cahill (Eng) 5; Zhou Yuelong (China) 6 P

Devlin (Eng) 1.

Fixtures

Football

Kick-off 8.0 unless stated

Europa League AEK Athens v Zorya

Luhansk (5.55); AZ v Real Sociedad; Bayer

Leverkusen v Hapoel Be’er Sheva; CFR Cluj

v Roma; CSKA Moscow v Feyenoord (5.55);

CSKA Sofia v Young Boys (5.55); Dundalk v

SK Rapid Wien; FK Qarabag v Sivasspor

(5.55); Granada CF v Omonia Nicosia; KAA

Gent v Crvena Zvezda (5.55); LASK v Royal

Antwerp (5.55); Lille v Milan (5.55); Maccabi

Tel Aviv v Villarreal (5.55); Molde v Arsenal

(5.55); Napoli v HNK Rijeka; Nice v Slavia

Prague; PSV v PAOK Salonika; RZ Pellets

WAC v Dinamo Zagreb (5.55); Rangers v

Benfica; Slovan Liberec v TSG Hoffenheim

(5.55); Sparta Prague v Celtic (5.55);

Sporting Braga v Leicester (5.55); Standard

Liège v Lech Poznan; Tottenham Hotspur v

Ludogorets Razgrad

FA Cup first round Barrow v AFC

Wimbledon (7.45)

Golf

Malalane: European Tour, Alfred Dunhill

Championship first round

Rooney has

Wayne Rooney has delivered on many

of his promises during a stellar playing

career but his prediction that Derby

County would quickly turn the corner

after he accepted a more hands-on

coaching role is proving rather difficult

to orchestrate.

Derby have suffered back-to-back

defeats since England’s leading goal-

scorer became the public face of the

Sky Bet Championship

Jason Mellor

Middlesbrough

Assombalonga 33, Clarke (og) 71,

Johnson 83

Derby County

3

0

Klopp’s decision to
rotate players backfired

‘Changes cost

us but I’d make

them again’

Martin Hardy

Jürgen Klopp stood by his decision to

make five changes to his Liverpool side

last night despite a 2-0 defeat by

Atalanta that has opened up group D in

the Champions League.

Klopp admitted that his side were

poor, failing to record a shot on target as

they fell to the Italian side through two

Paul Joyce
Northern Football Correspondent

Klopp’s understudies fail

Liverpool

Atalanta

Ilicic 60, Gosens 64

0

2

Gosens found space to meet a Hateboer knock-down and double Atalanta’s lead

LAURENCE GRIFFITHS/GETTY IMAGES

Ilicic opens the scoring for Atalanta at Anfield, poking the ball beyond Liverpool

64min 0-2 Gosens Four minutes that cost Liverpool

60min 0-1 Ilicic