Liverpool’s visit to Naples on Tuesday night didn’t go as planned as they suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of Napoli to kick off their Champions League defence on an unimpressive note.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were far from being the second-best team, but they failed to take their chances and luck was against them.
A contentious penalty was awarded to the hosts in the 82nd minute after Andy Robertson appeared to have tripped Jose Callejon in the box.
Dries Mertens scored from the subsequent spot-kick and things got worse a few minutes later after Fernando Llorente scored the hosts’ second goal following an error from Virgil Van Dijk.
Napoli can consider themselves lucky to have secured all three points as Liverpool took control of proceedings for the majority of the second-half.
Having lost at the same ground last term before going on to finally win the elite European competition, the Anfield outfit will fancy their chances of bouncing back again this season.
Napoli boss joked that Liverpool always win the Champions League whenever they lose at Naples, and here is how he reacted to his side’s victory on Twitter:
Vittoria fantastica. Orgoglioso dei miei giocatori e orgoglioso del San Paolo. Grazie a tutti per questa notte meravigliosa… Forza Napoli! #UCL #ForzaNapoliSempre
Fantastic victory. Proud of my players and proud of our fans. Thank you everyone for your support. Forza Napoli! pic.twitter.com/2ejE9Fe21w
— Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) September 17, 2019
Alongside the Serie A giants, Liverpool have Red Bull Salzburg and Genk to challenge with for the two last-16 slots in Group E, and they shouldn’t have a problem advancing to the next stage.
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