Napoli humbled Liverpool in their first meeting of the Champions League. Liverpool were trashed 4-1 by the hosts in a display of domination. It was clear as daylight that Napoli were the better team on the pitch in the match. Liverpool’s loss of key players in the squad is a heavy contributor to this display of football. Liverpool conceded the first 3 goals in the first half of the match which keeps their record of conceding first in the last 10 games out of 14 played intact.
Speaking to the reporters before the Napoli match Klopp reiterated his desire to win at Naples. Klopp has lost 3 matches that he has played against Napoli as a manager at Naples. He has lost 2-1 with Dortmund, 1-0 with the Reds, and 2-0 in their previous meeting. Klopp said:
“I have never won here. Not with Liverpool. Not with Dortmund. But we have frequently qualified for another final after Napoli was with us in the group stage. I am not sure all the time… but who cares.”
However, the fourth time was not the charm for Jurgen Klopp. Goals from Zelenski, Anguissa, and Simeone in the first half put Napoli firmly in the driver’s seat. Zielinski scored a goal in the 47th minute to put Napoli four ahead of Liverpool at Naples. Luis Diaz scored the lone goal for Liverpool in the 49th minute. Diaz looked good for the Reds but his teammates were well below par in the match. The substitution of Thiago ensured that some counter pressing happened but nothing substantial came out of it.
Liverpool manager’s view on the game
Jurgen Klopp has stated that Liverpool needs to ‘reinvent’ themselves after the loss to Napoli. Klopp admitted that Liverpool didn’t play a great game whereas Napoli played brilliantly. Klopp said:
“I think the problems we (Liverpool) had tonight were obvious. Number one, Napoli played a really good game and we played a really bad game. It looks like we need to reinvent ourselves. There’s a lot of things lacking. We have to try to find a set up to be much better in pretty much everything.”
Jurgen Klopp- BT Sports
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