Liverpool came into the Champions League this season as one of the favourites as opposed to the underdogs, courtesy of their run to the final last season. They’ve got the squad necessary to go on another really good run this year, but they can’t afford to let their guard down. Unfortunately, that appears to be what happened earlier tonight, as they were defeated 1-0 by Italian side Napoli. It was an intriguing game from start to finish, but in the end, it was a heartbreaking moment late in the game that secured the result.
A bad night at the office
The Reds struggled to really get going in the first half, with Napoli controlling the tempo of the game on their home soil. While they didn’t exactly dominate proceedings they certainly had the better chances, with Fabian Ruiz, and Arkadiusz Milik and Dries Mertens going close. The home fans were slowly starting to get more and more agitated which could’ve easily opened the door for Liverpool to take advantage, but they never really seemed to be at the races.
Mane and Salah both showed signs of brilliance but they weren’t consistent enough across the 90 minutes, which is always going to cause issues when you’re playing at this level. It seemed as if Liverpool would come away with a relatively undeserved draw, until a 90th minute winner from Lorenzo Insigne ensured that they’d be going back to Anfield empty handed.
Looking ahead
It’s time for Klopp to go back to the drawing board, and while we’re only a third of the way into the group stage, this could be a result that sticks with them. It certainly feels like their main priority this season is going to be winning the Premier League for the first time, whereas for Napoli, they seem to be unbelievably hard to predict.
Napoli will try to keep their momentum going this weekend when they host Sassuolo, and things don’t get any easier for Liverpool when they take on EPL champions Manchester City.
Match Report
Napoli: Ospina (7), Maksimovic (6.5), Albiol (7), Koulibaly (6), Mario Rui (6.5), Callejon (6), Marques Loureiro (6.5), Hamsik (7), Ruiz (6.5), Insigne (7.5), Milik (6.5)
Liverpool: Alisson (6), Alexander-Arnold (6.5), Gomez (6), van Dijk (6.5), Robertson (6), Milner (6), Wijnaldum (6.5), Keita (N/A), Salah (6.5), Firmino (6.5), Mane (6)
Referee: Viktor Kassai
Goals: Insigne
Yellow Cards: Koulibaly, Milner
Red Cards: N/A
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