Napoli 2-0 Liverpool: Match Report, Statistics, and Analysis

19/09/19 3422

Liverpool became the first winner of the Champions League to lose the opening game of the following campaign since AC Milan in 1994 as they were beaten 2-0 by Napoli.

Dries Mertens scored a penalty on 82 minutes after Liverpool left-back Andy Robertston brought down Jose Callejon.

Substitute Fernando Llorente added a second in the injury-time when he pounced upon a poor back-pass from Virgil van Dijk.

Both goalkeepers made a number of key saves in the second-half as the game looked to be heading for a draw.

Adrian kept out Mertens from point-blank range, while at the other end, Alex Meret denied Mohamed Salah with an outstanding fingertip save.

However, Liverpool failed to take their chances, and Napoli took advantage late on to claim the early bragging rights in Group E.

Liverpool were beaten 1-0 at the San Paolo last season, and Jurgen Klopp’s side have now lost 6 of their last 8 matches away from home in the Champions League.

Match Stats

Napoli – Liverpool

Possession

48%-52%

Shots

10-13

Shots on Target

5-4

Corners

7-6

Fouls

4-10

After a cagey first half, the game sprung into life after half-time, and the possession was fairly evenly shared in what became an exciting end to end match.

Klopp will be disappointed that his team failed to hit the target more often after registering more attempts than Napoli.

However, Liverpool did concede more than twice as many fouls as their opposition as they struggled to deal with Napoli’s speedy counter-attacking play.

Man of the Match: Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)

Liverpool failing to find the target more often was largely down to the eye-catching performance of center-back Kalidou Koulibaly.

Last season’s Serie A ‘Defender of the Year’ looked unbeatable, and his reading of the game meant that Liverpool got very few clear-cut chances.

The Senegal international got the better of both Mohamed Salah and Robert Firmino in one-on-one situations, and patrolled Napoli’s backline with a significant level of dominance.

Many of Europe’s top clubs were keen to sign the 28-year-old in the summer transfer window, but his decision to stay at Napoli has undoubtedly strengthened the team.

Key Facts

• Napoli have now won 5 of their 6 home matches in this competition when they have faced an English team.
• Fernando Llorente has now scored a Champions League goal for a record-equaling 4 different clubs – Juventus, Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur, and Napoli.
• Dries Mertens is now the all-time leading Belgian goal-scorer in the competition with 11 goals to his name.