Jurgen Klopp hits back at reporter questioning major Liverpool decision and says he'd do it again

Jurgen Klopp hit back at a journalist when asked why he made a key decision before Liverpool's defeat to Atalanta.

On Thursday Liverpool fell to a shock 3-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie.

Klopp's side were favourites to progress to the semi-finals and indeed win the whole competition, but a brace from former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca and a late strike from Mario Pasalic dealt their hopes a huge blow.

The defeat was Liverpool's first at Anfield since February last year, having gone 33 home matches unbeaten since losing 5-2 to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Liverpool must now pull off a remarkable comeback in the second leg in Italy next week if Klopp is to win a European trophy in his final season in charge.

Liverpool stars Caoimhin Kelleher and Dominik Szoboszlai both came in for criticism from supporters; the former allowed Scamacca's opener to squeeze under him, while the latter gave the ball away in the build-up to Atalanta's potentially decisive third goal.

Klopp also came under fire for his decision to heavily rotate his team. The German coach made six changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Manchester United on Sunday, with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Szoboszlai, Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz all dropping to the bench.

Some accused Klopp of complacency, but after the match he defended his decision.

"I would do exactly the same again," he told reporters.

Klopp brought on Salah, Szoboszlai and Robertson, but the trio made little impact.

"Unfortunately there is nothing really positive to say about the game," Klopp told TNT Sports.

"The start was good and we were maybe unlucky with Harvey hitting the crossbar and that period we 100 per cent deserved to be 1-0 up. Darwin’s chance was another good moment so that was really good.

"But from a specific moment on it became a really bad game and there is nothing positive to say about that. I didn’t like our discipline in possession.

"We were everywhere, which then means nowhere. No counter-press, we played into their hands."

Featured Image Credit: BeanymanSports

Topics: Liverpool, Atalanta, Europa League, Jurgen Klopp, Mohamed Salah, Football

Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton is a Sports Trends Writer at SPORTbible. He has previously worked with publications including the Manchester Evening News, GOAL and BBC Sport. He is a football fanatic, but also dabbles in tennis and American football. He enjoys running, cooking and watching non-league football.

@alex_brotherton