Liverpool suffered a 2-0 loss to Napoli in Italy last night as their Champions League title defence got off to a disappointing start.
The visitors couldn’t break down the Italians, and will feel undone by the referee’s decision to award the hosts a penalty after Andy Robertson was deemed to have tripped Jose Callejon in the box.
Despite the controversial nature of the call, it was ratified by the VAR, and Dries Mertens calmly squeezed his penalty past Adrian in the 82nd minute.
Fernando Llorente struck late on following an unusual error from Virgil van Dijk, but Liverpool had their own chances and should have scored had it been they were clinical enough.
Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino squandered opportunities, and goalkeeper Adrian kept them in the game as long as he could with strings of fine saves.
The Spaniard pulled off a double save from Fabian Ruiz, with Hirving Lozano heading home the rebound and seeing his goal rightly struck out for offside.
🙌 Brilliant save from Adrián to block Mertens volley!#UCL pic.twitter.com/ojsRkjMd39
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 17, 2019
Adrian also prevented Mertens from scoring after a well-struck volley, and Match of the day presenter Gary Lineker was very impressed, reacting to it on Twitter thus:
Unbelievably good save from Adrian keeps @LFC on level terms.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 17, 2019
One of the finest saves you’ll see from Adrian: pic.twitter.com/SoMJC9Qedc
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) September 17, 2019
Unfortunately for Liverpool, it wasn’t enough to prevent them from becoming the first holders to lose the first game of their Champions League defence since AC Milan did so in 1994-95.
Nevertheless, manager Jurgen Klopp’s side won’t be too disappointed with the result having lost to the same side in the group stages last term, and they still remain a force to reckon with.
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