As the dust on this season’s Champions League draw settled, groups B and D stood out as the 'Groups of Death'.
Indeed, that query is undoubtedly subjective but Group D — comprising Liverpool, Ajax, Atalanta and Midtjylland — seemed more exciting than the former — containing Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan and Borussia Monchengladbach….just.
While it’s played out differently in reality so far, with the Ukraine and German side respectively sitting in first and second place, Atalanta vs Ajax last week finally saw Group D come alive...which has whet the appetite before the Serie A side host the Reds on Tuesday.
On that night in Bergamo, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team fought from two goals down to draw 2-2 at the Gewiss Stadium, a game where both sides had significant spells in which the other was pinned back.
After showing the fighting spirit to fight back, technical ability and nous to stick to their principles for 90 minutes, Gasperini’s troops face arguably their toughest European test to date in Liverpool. This is, in part, due to the presence of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah for Jurgen Klopp’s side but also because of the Italian side’s bold approach.
Their courageous man-to-man marking style everywhere on the pitch, midfield pressing and relentless wave of attacks could cripple any side when it goes according to plan. Be that as it may, it could all go horribly wrong too, as Napoli proved recently, defeating La Dea 4-1 in Serie A.
In theory, Klopp’s deadly African pair will relish Tuesday night’s match-up, given their pace on the break and ability of players like Trent Alexander-Arnold and even Andrew Robertson to release them quickly into positions that’ll prove tricky to Atalanta’s backline.
The searing pace of the Egyptian and explosiveness of his Senegalese teammate means they’ll back themselves one-v-one against La Dea's defenders, who aren’t exactly the quickest.
Of course, the side from Lombardy will relish the opportunity of playing the Merseyside club and will hope for better fortunes this time against another English side.
Gasperini’s team faced Manchester City in their debut Champions League season but the Cityzens’ class and superiority told at the Etihad Stadium in a 5-1 win, while the 1-1 stalemate at San Siro, probably remembered for Kyle Walker’s cameo in goal, wasn’t as close an encounter as the final score implies.
Their confidence springs from the absences in the Liverpool defence and a particular tactical tendency of Klopp’s wide attackers which could be exploited.
The long-term injury of Virgil van Dijk means Klopp would be without arguably the world’s best centre-back, while Fabinho’s expected non-involvement means Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Phillips may continue at the heart of the rearguard, although Joel Matip’s return gives the German boss a huge lift in central defence.
As regards the freedom afforded to Liverpool’s widemen — usually Mane and Salah — to not track back as regularly as necessary suggests Atalanta’s predisposition to create overloads on the flanks could hurt the English champions.
This approach was apparent in last week’s entertaining draw with the Dutch side, as Gasperini’s team created situations where they had an extra man out wide, aided by the talismanic Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez, whose autonomy makes him hard to mark.
“You can see [Alejandro] Gomez’s role in midfield, which is a completely free, floating, whatever, genius running around everywhere making it really difficult to catch him,” Klopp stated on Monday. “They use the skills of the individuals in an incredibly smart way, so you can exactly see how they use the strikers, how they use the strikers in different ways.
“They are very well organised; play their system with 100 per cent conviction and know exactly what everybody has to do.”
An incredibly daring man-marking approach all over the pitch, a seemingly cavalier but calculative maverick with the freedom to wreak havoc and overloads out wide, Liverpool won’t have it all their way against the free-scoring hosts in Bergamo on Tuesday.
It promises to be one of this season’s rip-roaring European contests and with the adventurous approach by the Italians, don’t expect Mane and Salah to be passive observers...rather, they’ll be protagonists as the Reds seek to affirm their superiority.