Liverpool were on Wednesday night humiliated by Napoli in their first Champions League Group A game.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were 3-0 down at half time but it could easily have been more as Alisson saved a penalty and Virgil van Dijk made a goalline block.
Piotr Zielinski put Napoli ahead from the spot in the fifth minute after Victor Osimhen had hit the post.
Andre-Frank Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone extended Napoli’s lead, before Zielinski scored again after the break.
It was a terrible opening half from Liverpool as Joe Gomez struggled to deal with Osimhen and was relieved when the Napoli forward trudged off with an injury before half-time.
His replacement, Simeone, needed just three minutes to score on his Champions League debut as Liverpool looked shell-shocked by the home side’s relentless forward approach.
There were chances for the visitors – Van Dijk had a header well saved, Mohamed Salah struck an effort at the goalkeeper and a teasing cross bounced dangerously off Harvey Elliott’s knee at the back post.
But Liverpool were sloppy in possession – even Salah mis-controlled a good pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold when well-placed in the box – and their defensive mistakes were punished by an expressive Napoli side.
Any hope of a second-half comeback were over when Zielinski chipped a finish over Alisson from close range to make it 4-0 and though Luis Diaz curled in for an immediate response and came close with a diving header, Liverpool were deservedly beaten.
Deadline-day signing Arthur Melo came on for his debut late in the second half and fellow midfielder Thiago returned from injury to make a brief cameo, but Liverpool will head home having now won just two of their last seven matches in all competitions.
Results of other games played on Wednesday night are shown below.
Wednesday’s scores
Ajax 4-0 Rangers
Sporting Lisbon 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Napoli 4-1 Liverpool
Tottenham 2-0 Marseille
Bayern Munich 2-0 Inter
Barcelona 5-1 Viktoria Plzen
Club Brugge 1-0 Leverkusen
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Porto
For Tuesday Champions League scores, click on this link.
