Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool 'lost the plot' as they were humbled 3-0 by Atalanta in the Europa League on Thursday night.

The manager's gamble of making six change to his starting line-up backfired as Gianluca Scamacca (2) and Mario Pasalic ensured the Italian underdogs became the first team to win at Anfield this season.

Klopp looked dumbfounded at how his side collapsed leaving them needing a miracle in the quarter-final second leg next week.

Liverpool fans had hoped the Europa League final in Dublin on May 22 would give Klopp a perfect send-off before leaving the club.

'It was a really bad game, oh my God,' groaned the German manager. 

Jurgen Klopp admitted Liverpool 'lost the plot' as they were humbled 3-0 by Atalanta

'We started really well and then didn't continue. Before they even scored, we just lost the plot a little bit.

'We were everywhere and nowhere. Midfield was spread like that, right and left.

'I didn't recognise it a bit, it was really quite strange.'

A blunder by goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher gifted Atalanta the half-time lead. 

Klopp sent on Mo Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson at the interval and Luis Diaz after an hour but to no avail as things got worse.

He defended his team selection with Liverpool in the midst of a thrilling three-horse Premier League title race, with Crystal Palace visiting Anfield on Sunday.

'I get the question 100 per cent, if we lose a game, that's how it is – the changes. But one of the reasons I would do exactly the same again is because if we want to be good in the rest of the season, we have to make changes.

'I am responsible for this result first, I know that. But the decision (about the starting line-up) would remain the same.'

Liverpool once overturned a 3-0 deficit to beat Barcelona and reach the Champions League final in 2019. 

Klopp isn't making any bombastic predictions about a repeat next week in Italy, however. 

'Can we win 3-0? I have no idea,' he added.

While the German coach remained reserved in his predictions for the second-leg next Thursday, his captain, Virgil van Dijk, asserted that the tie is not over. 

Reflecting on the game, Van Dijk told TNT Sports: ‘A very, very disappointing evening. Too many individual mistakes and we got punished for it. It feels bad. 

'With the man-marking system they do, we have to do much better. When we have the ball we have to do better and be much stronger. The spaces were open and they punished us immediately. 

'A very disappointing night for all of us but we can't dwell on it for too long. We need everyone to look forward to another big game. We have to switch back onto getting results. 

'We were wide open. It's more that we conceded the goals because we lost the ball in difficult areas. It hurts. But it can't put us down. We have to react pretty quickly.'

It represented the Reds' first Anfield loss since falling to Real Madrid last February and compounded the Premier League hopefuls' potentially costly 2-2 draw at bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday. 

Van Dijk added: ‘It hurts of course. We haven't lost here for a long time. 

'But we shouldn't take the credit away from them. They punished us for being sloppy in possession.

'We still had chances to score one or two and unfortunately we didn't. 

'If you don't believe, there's no point going to Italy. We have made it very hard for ourselves going there 3-0 down.