REDS MUST ARREST SLIDE FAST

Bad starts, profligacy and tiredness turning Klopp’s quadruple farewell dream into a flop

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Jurgen Klopp was headed for a glorious send-off in his final season at Liverpool just a few weeks ago, but talk of a potential quadruple is now long forgotten as the Reds have come off the rails.

The team have a mountain to climb on April 18 if they are to make the Europa League semi-finals, after losing the first leg of their quarter-final 3-0 at home to Atalanta last week.

Klopp's men, who beat Chelsea to win the League Cup in February, were also dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester United in March as the Red Devils edged out a thrilling tie 4-3 at Old Trafford.

Liverpool failed to learn their lesson from that defeat as they were held 2-2 by United three weeks later and then stunned 1-0 at home by Crystal Palace in their last two English Premier League games, to fall two points behind leaders Manchester City in the title race.

So what has gone wrong that Klopp's fitting farewell is now at risk of fizzling out?

SLOW STARTS

Liverpool's habit of fighting back from losing positions was lauded earlier in the campaign as a sign of the "mentality monsters" the German has created throughout his time at Anfield.