Liverpool suffered one of their most humbling ever-European losses in Naples, beaten 4-1 by Napoli.
Jurgen Klopp’s side was blown away by a first-half blitz from the Italians, who scored three times in the opening 45 minutes through Piotr Zielinski, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone, and still found time to miss a penalty through Victor Osimhen.
Their defence was inept and – aside from another Luis Diaz spectacular when the game was already lost – punchless upfront. After seven years in which Klopp has taken pride in building a side who are ‘nightmare’ to play against, Napoli shrugged them aside with ease.
The Reds were shell-shocked, and things didn’t get any better after half-time as within two minutes of the restart Zielinski made it 4-0, following up after Alisson had saved his initial effort.
The Napoli boss was all smiles as he greeted Jurgen Klopp ahead of kick-off. Maybe he knew what was about to come?
Klopp was effusive in his praise for Spalletti at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, and clearly respects the Italian’s coaching skills. He’ll respect them even more after Napoli put Liverpool to the sword in a way few sides have in recent years.
The Serie A side was brilliant, sharp and clever with their movement, exposing Liverpool’s terrifyingly-high defensive line repeatedly, and playing their way through midfield with composure, belief and bags of quality.
Whether it was Victor Osimhen, who was excellent outside of his penalty miss, or the brilliant trio of Piotr Zielinski, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Napoli had all the game’s outstanding performers.
And on the sideline, they had its outstanding coach.
Goal. com
