Jurgen klopps Liverpool were made to pay for their arrogance in the transfer market as the reds were thrashed by Napoli in their first Champions League Group A game on a night to forget in Italy.
Jurgen Klopp’s side started on the back foot conceding a fifth minuted penalty to Napoli when his shot was diverted away from the frame of the goal by James Milner’s hand. The Polish international converted the penalty to put the hosts in the driving seat.
The Italian outfit received their second penalty within 15 minutes, but Alisson stood strong to parry out Victor Osimhen’s spot-kick to keep the Reds in the game. Kvratskhelia had a chance to double the lead at the 27′ mark, but Virgil Van Dijk made a despairing goal-line clearance.and Giovanni Simeone extended Napoli’s lead, before Zielinski scored again after the break. However, the Reds’ defence was exposed again when Andre Anguissa played a one-two with Zielinski to score the second goal of the game.
It was a terrible opening half from Liverpool as Joe Gomez struggled to deal with Osimhen and was relieved when the Napoli forward trudged off with an injury before half-time.
His replacement, Simeone, needed just three minutes to score on his Champions League debut as Liverpool looked shell-shocked by the home side’s relentless forward approach.
There were chances for the visitors – Van Dijk had a header well saved, Mohamed Salah struck an effort at the goalkeeper and a teasing cross bounced dangerously off Harvey Elliott’s knee at the back post.
But Liverpool were sloppy in possession – even Salah mis-controlled a good pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold when well-placed in the box – and their defensive mistakes were punished by an expressive Napoli side.
Any hope of a second-half comeback were over when Zielinski chipped a finish over Alisson from close range to make it 4-0 and though Luis Diaz curled in for an immediate response and came close with a diving header, Liverpool were deservedly beaten.
Deadline-day signing Arthur Melo came on for his debut late in the second half and fellow midfielder Thiago returned from injury to make a brief cameo, but Liverpool will head home having now won just two of their last seven matches in all competitions.
