A penalty given up by Andrew Robertson, a sloppy mistake by Virgil van Dijk, of all people. Liverpool became the first European champions to lose their next game out in this competition since AC Milan in 1994.
True, the Milanese went on to the final that year, as did Ajax, the team that beat them. And Liverpool also lost away to Napoli in the group stage 12 months ago, and eventually won the tournament . It’s the earliest of early days. Nobody reads too much into these group games anymore.
Even so, this was a crashing disappointment, given Liverpool’s current domestic form and their pedigree and growth in this competition. European champions usually get to bask in the glory a little longer than this. Instead, it is sleeves up and here we go again, given that one of the group, RB Salzburg, opened by putting six past Genk. Now this may be because the Belgians are hopeless and Salzburg may have been greatly flattered. Yet Liverpool cannot presume. Next month, when they play the Austrians at Anfield, there can be no slip-ups.
Dries Mertens was on the scoresheet as they beat defending holders Liverpool in their Champions League opener
Mertens scored from the penalty spot on 82 minutes to earn the Serie A side all three points in a close-fought encounter
Napoli were awarded the penalty when Jose Callejon fell under the challenge from Liverpool left back Andrew Robertson
Belgium international Mertens was quickly mobbed by his team-mates as he celebrated with a rocking Stadio San Paolo
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND GROUP TABLE
Napoli (4-4-2): Meret 7: Di Lorenzo 7, Manolas 6, Koulibaly 8, Rui 6: Callejon 7, Allan 7 (Elmas 75), Fabian Ruiz 8, Insigne 6 (Zielinski 67, 6): Mertens 8, Lozano 6 (Llorente 69).
Subs not used: Ospina, Maksimovic, Ghoulam, Milik
Booked: Llorente
Goals: Mertens 82 (pen), Llorente 90+2
Manager: Carlo Ancelotti – 7
Liverpool (4-3-3): Adrian 7: Alexander-Arnold 6, Matip 7, Van Dijk 8, Robertson 6: Henderson 7 (Shaqiri 87), Fabinho 8.5, Milner 6 (Wijnaldum 65, 6): Salah 6, Firmino 6, Mane 6
Subs not used: Kelleher, Lovren, Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana
Booked: Robertson, Milner
Manager: Jurgen Klopp – 6
Attendance: 38,878
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany) – 7
Man-of-the-Match: Fabinho
*Player Ratings by DOMINIC KING
And, recently, that has been a given. Part of Liverpool’s relentless run of league wins – not to mention their European crown – has been the excellence of Jurgen Klopp’s defence. Van Dijk is widely considered the finest centre-back in Europe; Robertson one of the greatest bargains in Premier League history. At a time when defending is increasingly considered a lost art, these guys are Gilbert & George.
Liverpool win because the back four lay a foundation that make the goals count. At Arsenal the forwards must wonder how many they have to score to rise above the defensive frailty. At Liverpool, they know: one, maybe two.
So to go down to a clumsily conceded 82nd minute penalty and a lousy back pass is unfamiliar territory. It will infuriate Klopp even if, long term, the result does not end up causing him more than a flesh wound.
Even more so, given that Liverpool should have at least been ahead by the time Napoli scored. It took a superb piece of goalkeeping from Alex Meret to stop them taking a lead in the second-half when the otherwise excellent Napoli defence made a hash of a simple clearance. It was not the fault of Kalidou Koulibay. He was outstanding all game and it is easy to see why he was on Liverpool’s shortlist had their move for van Dijk – who was quite magnificent, until his injury time brain storm – not come to fruition.
Liverpool midfielder Fabinho heads away in the middle of the park during the opening exchanges in Naples
Sadio Mane (left) attempts to control the ball as Liverpool continued their positive start in southern Italy
Belgian forward Mertens curls a ball towards goal as the Serie A side look to break the deadlock at the Stadio San Paolo
So Koulibay did his job, a deep centre repelled with an equally forthright header which fell to his defensive partner Kostas Monolas, who was farther advanced. He made a complete mess attempting to push the ball on, however, and sliced his kick, sending it backwards and into the path of Mohamed Salah. It was a gift and Salah looked certain to take advantage, had Meret not been equal to his low shot, pushing it around the far post.
It meant Liverpool remained vulnerable to a random occurrence and with eight minutes remaining, one arrived: Jose Callejon had been moved from a wide position in support of the attack in very a smart move by Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti, but it still required Robertson to stick out a leg rashly, for this to make a difference.
Robertson, normally Mr Steady, presented a barrier for Callejon to tumble over and gave referee Felix Brych the opportunity to point to the spot. He took it. Replays were in the eye of the beholder. Some made it look a dive, or at least that favoured cliché ‘looking for it’, others showed an act of carelessness on Robertson’s part.
Adrian, who had been excellent all night, got a hand to Dries Mertens low shot, but it was not enough to keep it out. Klopp thought it was a harsh call. But then he would, wouldn’t he?
Liverpool forward Mo Salah (right) sees an effort blocked by the outstretched leg of Napoli centre back Kostas Manolas
Salah shrugs off a challenge from the excellent Napoli centre back Kalidou Koulibaly as the visitors go on the attack
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp barks out instructions on the touchline to his team during the first half
His Napoli counterpart Carlo Ancelotti was as equally animated on the touchline during a goalless opening 45 minutes
Liverpool defender Joel Matip (left) and Trent Alexander-Arnold crowd out Napoli forward Hirving Lozano
Worse followed. Van Dijk was in possession, a state in which he is usually so calm, so precise, when he inexplicably turned and attempted to pass back to Robertson without seeing the lurking danger of substitute Fernando Llorente. The former Tottenham man accepted the present gleefully, and slipped the ball past Adrian. Van Dijk put his head in his hands, his veneer of invincibility gone. Liverpool’s too.
For a team with such talent in recent years it comes as something of a surprise that this was only Napoli’s fifth win in their last 13 Champions League games. No surprise, however, that each of those victories has come at the Stadio San Paolo. Even with the bottom tier largely empty, it is a ferocious, inhospitable place, foreign in a way few grounds are these days, now so many arenas are new and sanitised and branded. A crumbling, concrete bowl with a running track that is supposed to be an atmosphere killer, but isn’t, and a moat that offers a clue to the mood within, it is a throwback to the days when European away fixtures were genuine steps into the unknown.
It hardly matters that a visit to Naples is not uncommon for English clubs, that Liverpool were here in the group stage last year, or previously in 2010. Every journey to this city has an edge. Traffic in the centre was kept at bay for what seemed an age to allow Liverpool’s coach to get to the ground in time – yet the sirens of their police escort wailed forlornly as the bus found no easy passage through.
The docile, day-tripper crowd that gathered outside the team hotel were replaced by hundreds of speeding scooter boys who travelled in the coach’s slip stream, taking advantage of the opportunity to beat the gridlock. On every corner, locals gathered to greet the European champions with jeers. It made for quite the spectacle.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Napoli thought they had taken the lead but Adrian did brilliantly to deny Mertens
Salah could only watch on after his goal-bound drive was brilliantly saved by the fingertips of Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret
Former Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente came off the bench to score in injury time to complete the scoreline for Napoli
The physical Spaniard capitalised on a mistake from Van Dijk to slot an effort past Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian
The veteran Spaniard was duly mobbed by his team-mates as they celebrated his strike to secure the victory
Napoli, the team, have plenty of energy, too. Ancelotti is not the stereotypical defensive Italian coach. He gambles, he attacks and Napoli were often set up 4-2-4 in an attempt to negate Liverpool’s marauding full-backs. This was largely successful, even if Liverpool couldn’t help but have more chances than they did on their last visit – when they had none, in possibly the most disappointing performance of their 2018-19 European campaign.
Still, it was Napoli who seized the early initiative. Indeed, they had the ball in the net after just seven minutes, having forced an excellent double save from Adrian, still deputising well for the injured Alisson Becker. Both stops came from shots by midfielder Fabian Ruiz, bought from Real Betis for £30m two summers ago.
His first was kept out by Adrian, but the ball returned to the feet of the Spanish international, who tried again. Adrian was equal to it once more, but this time the deflection bounced up and was headed in by Hirving Lozano, late of PSV Eindhoven and too much of a handful for Tottenham in previous Champions League campaigns. He headed in to the unguarded net with Adrian stranded, but a flag was instantly raised and play had restarted before VAR even completed its cursory check.
Adrian made the best save of the night, too, shortly after half time when a cross from Mario Rui eluded van Dijk and was met on the volley by Mertens at the far post. Sadio Mane had a chance and Roberto Firmino a header, but it was an inconsistent performance from the kings of Europe. No-one will be panicking, but Liverpool have their eyes on another very big prize this season, and a Champions League scrap is one nuisance they can do without.
