Napoli 4-1 Liverpool in stunning start to Champions League campaign

Football

Published: 08 Sep. 2022, 08:56

Napoli 4-1 Liverpool in stunning start to Champions League campaign

Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski, left, celebrates after scoring a penalty during a UEFA Champions League Group A match against Liverpool at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples on Wednesday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Napoli stunned Liverpool with a huge 4-1 win at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, Italy on Wednesday, humiliating the reigning runners-up to kick off their UEFA Champions League campaign.

Liverpool, a team that has made it to the Champions League final in three of the last five years, were torn to pieces by a fiery Napoli offensive that overpowered the visitors the first 50 minutes of the game. The result was an embarrassment for Liverpool and the worst loss by any Premier League team in the opening game of Champions League campaign since 2003.

When the dust settled at the end of 4-1 defeat, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who had just been handed the worst European defeat in his seven years at the helm of the club, was forced to apologize to fans that had made the journey to Italy for the game.

In fact, the loss could have been far worse. Napoli had 18 shots in the game, nine of which were on target and a lot more that came very close.

Piotr Zielinski scored the first goal of the game in the fifth minute, although Napoli had already had a couple of chances by then, after Liverpool captain James Milner's hand contacted the ball inside the box.

By the time André-Frank Zambo Anguissa added goal No. 2 in the 31st minute, Napoli had hit the post, had what should have been an easy goal cleared on the line and missed a second penalty. The Liverpool defense was so severely outclassed that it was only Napoli's inability to get shots on target that kept the score out of the stratosphere.

Giovanni Simeone added goal No. 3 in the 44th minute, allowing Napoli to go into the break up 3-0. Zielinski added a second immediately after half time to take it to 4-0, with Liverpool adding their sole contribution for the night with a goal from Luis Díaz in the 49th minute.

Liverpool finally found their feet in the final 30 minutes, controlling the ball but still failing to do anything with it. Napoli's defense held strong, preventing anything from getting across despite multiple Liverpool chances in the second half.

The Napoli squad, including Korean defender Kim Min-jae, back row, center, pose for a photo before taking on Liverpool in their opening game of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League in Naples on Wednesday. [NAPOLI SSC]

For Napoli center back Kim Min-jae, its difficult to imagine a more exciting match to have been a part of for his UEFA Champions League debut. Although the Napoli defense was not especially pretty it certainly got the job done — Liverpool controlled 62 percent of the ball, had 12 corners and seven shots on target and still walked away with a humiliating 4-1 loss.

Despite the big win, Napoli only take second place in Group A after Ajax beat Rangers 4-0 in their opening game. The Italian side will get to have a crack at the Scottish club next week, as Napoli head to Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Before that game, Napoli will be back in action over the weekend in the Italian Serie A with a game against Spezia on Saturday.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]