Napoli had already beaten Liverpool in the last 2 outings at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium; so you could have forgiven the Reds for thinking this would be another tough outing. But this was something else.
To everyone's disbelief; the Naples side put up a stunning performance; cutting through the Liverpool defence time & time again to record a historic 4-1 humiliation that will be remembered for years to come.
Right from the opening minute; Victor Osimhen tore through the Liverpool defence to round Alisson & nearly hit the post. It seemed that every Napoli through ball from the back found the Liverpool defence wanting; as they were all over the place in a nervy first half.
Before long; they were 3-0 up as Piotr Zielinsky scored a penalty; ex-Fulham legend Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa waltzed through to score; and Giovanni Simeone; son of Diego Simeone; tapped in the third on the stroke of half-time. Amazingly; they even went 4-0 up right at the start of the second half as Zielinski stole in again to score; before Luis Diaz got a much-needed consolation for the Reds.
A lot had been said of the new Maradona; Kvicha Kvaratskhelia; and he didn't disappoint; putting in a sterling display down on the left wing. And he was aided and abetted by Anguissa; who ran the show from midfield; and Osimhen looked dangerous before he went off injured in the 40th minute mark.
For Liverpool; it was a horror show; Joe Gomez & Virgil van Dijk were all over the place; and the rest of the team wasn't much better either; with Mohamed Salah looking a pale shadow of his former self being being substituted off in the second half. It was also the first time ever that I saw Jurgen Klopp feeling under stress in the post-match interview.
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