Near Miss

In a moment that left Anfield collectively gasping, Liverpool’s young prodigy Harvey Elliott came excruciatingly close to breaking the deadlock against Atalanta in the Europa League clash. The 21-year-old’s audacious attempt in the 26th minute had the Kop already rising in celebration, only for the cruel intervention of the woodwork to deny them the ecstasy of an opener. The passage of play unfolded when Kostas Tsimikas’ free-kick was half-cleared by the Atalanta defense, falling invitingly for Elliott on the edge of the area.

In what was supposed to be an ideal preparation for their opening Euro 2024 match against Germany, Scotland suffered a demoralizing 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Amsterdam. The scoreline fails to tell the full story of a night where Steve Clarke’s side missed chance after chance before conceding three goals in the final 18 minutes. For 70 minutes, Scotland silenced the World Cup quarter-finalists in front of a 51,000-strong crowd at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.