(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Liverpool produced arguably their best performance of the season with a stunning win at Atalanta on Tuesday night in the Champions League.
Any doubts of Virgil van Dijk’s injury derailing their season has been put to bed after Liverpool secured three wins from three in the Champions League, with Atalanta bearing the brunt of a ruthless 5-0 demolition from the Reds.
Diogo Jota – who was given the start ahead of Roberto Firmino – scored for the fourth consecutive game after bagging a superb hattrick, putting the Reds in a comfortable position in Group D, where a draw from the next three games should be enough to take them through to the knockout stages.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah also found the net, while the likes of Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Rhys Williams and Alisson Becker produced virtuoso performances on the night.
Many players have taken to Twitter to react to the win with several reserving special praise for hatrick hero Jota. This is how Liverpool players reacted to the win on social networking site Twitter:
Amazing team performance 💫⚽⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/UVqiguuNUe
— Diogo Jota (@DiogoJota18) November 3, 2020
Boys on 🔥 and JOTA performance from this guy#baddadjokes#9from9#allezallezallez#alwaysanhonourtowearthearmband pic.twitter.com/88gXD3mgtZ
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) November 3, 2020
YESS🔥What a night! Amazing team performance and a special congrats to @DiogoJota18 ⚽⚽⚽ 👏🏾 #ATALIV #YNWA pic.twitter.com/OENO4hvydz
— Gini Wijnaldum (@GWijnaldum) November 3, 2020
Perfect European night. Lads were superb tonight! #YNWA pic.twitter.com/s81Ews7nDe
— Andy Robertson (@andrewrobertso5) November 3, 2020
Perfect night. Congrats @DiogoJota18 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/xY6dbiTEjV
— Trent Alexander-Arnold (@TrentAA) November 3, 2020
What A Night! Full Champions League Debut, 5-0 Away Win And A Clean Sheet. Great Team Performance From Everyone💪🏾🔴#lfc pic.twitter.com/6wDnoVKBjI
— Rhys Williams (@rhyswilliams01) November 3, 2020
For the first time this season, Liverpool gave the impression they are getting back to their old best. So far, they’ve been grinding out results without playing the free-flowing football we’ve been come accustomed to. But on Tuesday night, they made a strong team like Atalanta look like they didn’t belong at this level.
Where to start? Gini’s tireless buccaneering runs in the centre of the park, the nimble, creative feet of Salah, the superb saves of Alisson, Mane’s indomitable gusto and silky touch – and yet Jota’s performance outshines them all. He was a constant menace to the Atalanta defence.
With 7 goals already in 10 games, Jota – who joined from Wolves this summer – is already standing out as one of the signings of the season. His performance in Bergamo now puts pressure on Firmino – who has been off-colour this season, scoring just once in 10 games.
While Klopp is pleased with Firmino’s contribution, and there’s a design in place to accommodate all his four attacking players, Jota’s sensational performance on Tuesday opens up more tactical options for the Reds manager to operate with going forward.
