A truly embarrassing night in Europe for Liverpool as they conceded four against Napoli in a truly terrible performance on a collective and individual level.
Napoli 4-1 Liverpool
Champions League Group A (1), Diego Armando Maradona StadiumSeptember 7, 2022
Objectives and key events
Zielinski 5′ Lost Feather: Osimhen 18′ Anguissa 31′ Simeone 44′ Zielinski 47′ Diaz 49′
Liverpool did not have a good record in Napoli before this game, without a goal let alone a win in all three of their meetings in the last decade, and it only got worse. Much worse.
There were three changes from the Merseyside derby on Saturday, with Andy Robertson, James Milner and Roberto Firmino coming on as Jurgen Klopp looked for experience in the Champions League opener.
Liverpool’s slow starts are widely known, conceding first in 10 of the last 14 games, and it almost happened again in 43 seconds when Victor Osimhen hit the post.
However, it was 1-0 for the hosts in the 5th minute, when Milner committed a one-handed penalty and Piotr Zielinksi dispatched the penalty.
That was bad, but it could have been worse when Van Dijk took a penalty for a foul on Osimhen 10 minutes later, only for Alisson to save the striker’s penalty and save Liverpool from having to scale a mountain.
It was bad enough for Klopp to switch formations, moving to 4231; Central Salah, Firmino at the back, Elliott at the side and Milner together with Fabinho in midfield.
Napoli should have been 2-0 up when they struck back just before half an hour, Osimhen took Gomez’s pocket, but Van Dijk came back to clear the line. Quite simply, Liverpool looked like a complete mess.
It was 2-0 shortly after, Gomez coming through again, then a simple one-two and Anguissa slipping the ball past Alisson. Shameful defense.
And the third came before the break, more lousy defending. Alexander-Arnold was outplayed too easily by the sides, then Gomez outplayed again, an absolute touch for Simeone.
It was 3-0 at the break but it could have been six for Napoli, who also missed a penalty, hit the post and cleared one over the line.
Halftime: Napoli 3-0 Liverpool
Joel Matip replaced Gómez at halftime in the only change. Somehow Milner stayed on the field. How only one submarine was used was puzzling.
80 seconds after the restart, Napoli made all four. Another counter-attack, more watching the ball by Alexander-Arnold, Zielinski stepped in after Alisson had initially saved. shocking.
Two minutes later, Luis Díaz shot from the edge of the area to the lower corner of the area to make it 4-1. The Colombian seemed the only player remotely interested.
A triple time change saw Salah, Firmino and Milner replaced by Thiago, Núñez and Jota. New signing Arthur came on in the last 10 minutes.
Liverpool saw the ball a lot but did little with it, Diaz was the only player who looked threatening.
Thiago’s return from injury was one of the few positives, the Spaniard providing some midfield alongside Fabinho.
Liverpool won all six group stage games last season, that certainly won’t happen this season. This result coincided with their worst defeat in Champions League football.
Big, big concerns for Klopp’s team at the start of this season.
TIA Man of the Match: Luis Diaz
Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Liverpool: Alison; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Milner (Thiago 62′), Elliott (Arthur 77′); Salah (Jota 62′), Diaz, Firmino (Núñez 62′)
Unused Subs: Adrian, Davies, Phillips, Tsimikas, Bajcetic
Naples: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskelia
Substitutes: Sirigu, Jesus, Mario Rui, Ostigard, Zanoli, Elmas, Gaetano, Ndombele, Zerbin, Lozano, Raspadori, Simeone
Next game: Wolves (at home, Saturday, September 10)
