Liverpool vs Atalanta result: Player ratings as Reds suffer disappointing Champions League defeat

Liverpool suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Ahead of kick-off the teams paid tribute to Diego Armando Maradona, after the footballing legend passed away earlier in the day.

Neither team really sparked into life in the opening half, with Alisson Becker making one early save to deny Robin Gosens and Mohamed Salah firing over for the Reds.

READ MORE: Champions League fixtures and standings — all matches by date and kick-off time

After the break showed far more endeavour though and scored two quick goals around the hour mark through Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens to earn the points.

Here are the Liverpool player ratings from the match at Anfield.

Alisson Becker - 7. Fantastic early one-handed save. Couldn’t do anything about the goals from close range.

Neco Williams - 5. Had a tough test against Gosens but covered his infield runs most of the time and made a few tackles. On the ball was less-impressive than he has been previously.

Joel Matip - 7. Atalanta mostly kept the ball away from him, which was probably wise as he won most of his battles.

Rhys Williams - 6. Dealt well with aerial balls but was caught flat-footed for the second goal as his marker evaded him.

Kostas Tsimikas - 5. Waited a long time for another appearance and didn’t enjoy this one much. Beaten for the goal and was berated by his manager more than once for not tracking back quickly enough.

Gini Wijnaldum - 6. Worked hard for an hour at the base of midfield. One of the more energetic Reds on show.

James Milner - 6. Hard work, lots of running, but mostly fruitless labours.

Curtis Jones - 7. The most progressive of the Liverpool midfielders on the ball, always available to take possession and tried to set the team on the front foot.

Mohamed Salah - 5. Fired a right-footed effort over the bar near the end of the first half and did very little aside from that.

Divock Origi - 5. Clearly some way short of rhythm or sharpness in the final third.

Sadio Mane - 5. Extremely quiet considering his quality and importance to the team.

Subs

Roberto Firmino - 6. One poor touch in the box for the only half-chance which fell his way.

Diogo Jota - 6. Tried to dribble his way into dangerous areas but had no luck.

Fabinho - 6. Brought an element of control to midfield.

Andy Robertson - 6. Quickly brought more direct running and delivery from the left.

Takumi Minamino - n/a. Only had a few minutes.

Unused: Adrian, Kelleher, Koumetio, Cain, Clarkson.

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