Holders Liverpool in Napoli stranglehold
PARIS: Holders Liverpool began their defence of the Champions League trophy with a defeat against Napoli on Tuesday, while one missed spot-kick condemned Chelsea to defeat against Valencia. Liverpool survived a 1-0 defeat in Naples in the group stage last season to go on and win their sixth European Cup, and this time a 2-0 reverse at the San Paolo made them the first reigning champions to lose their opening game in the competition since 1994.
Both sides had chances in the Group E clash before the hosts won a late penalty with barely 10 minutes remaining when Jose Callejon went down under an Andy Robertson challenge.
Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente were on target, with the former converting a penalty on 82 minutes and Llorente adding a second in stoppage time as Napoli gained a measure of revenge for last season’s 1-0 defeat at Anfield that denied the Italians a spot in the knockout rounds.
The loss for Jurgen Klopp’s side makes them first reigning European champions to lose their opening game of the following campaign since AC Milan in 1994. However Liverpool, who sit top of the Premier League after five straight wins, remain favourites alongside Napoli to progress from Group E despite Salzburg’s thrilling 6-2 win over Genk.
“Give us a few more games to change the table, but it looks like Napoli are through,” said Klopp, who tipped the Italians to go far.
“Napoli can win the competition. If you have a good plan and good players, you don’t have to be the best team in the world to win the Champions League. You have to perform at the right moment.”
Liverpool also lost their group-stage match in Naples last season before going on to lift a sixth European Cup.
“Being able to match Liverpool is impressive as they are the best team in Europe at the moment,” said Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti. But the threetime Champions League winning coach warned: “The season is long, there is still a long road ahead.”
Goalscorer Llorente joined Napoli this season after playing his last game for former club Tottenham in the Champions League final defeat to Liverpool in Madrid in June.
He came on as a substitute and pounced on a rare Virgil van Dijk blunder after Mertens had opened the scoring from the spot to cause pandemonium among the crowd at the fiery Stadio San Paolo. After two difficult opening matches in Serie A with seven goals conceded, Ancelotti’s side seem to have clicked into gear.
Napoli defenders Kalidou Kouilbaly and Mario Rui neutralised the threat of Egyptian star Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane.
CHELSEA LOSE 1-0
Rodrigo allowed Valencia to shake off a week of upheaval behind the scenes to clinch a 1-0 victory at Chelsea on Tuesday.
The opening victory in Group H came in only the second game in charge for Albert Celades since replacing Marcelino García Toral, who fell out with owner Peter Lim.
“This was a very hard- fought win,” Celades said through a translator. “The players showed a lot of commitment toward not just us the coaching staff but also to the club and fans.”
The winning goal came from a player that Valencia nearly sold to Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window. Rodrigo was left unchecked to race onto Daniel Parejo’s free kick and volley into the net in the 74th minute at Stamford Bridge.
“I never felt alone, I always felt the players support,” said Celades, a former defensive midfielder for Barcelona and Real Madrid. “We have to make sure the noise outside doesn’t affect us and work on things that will help us win matches.”
Chelsea, meanwhile, have to work on its defence.
Rodrigo’s strike was the 14th goal Chelsea have conceded in the seven games in all competitions since Frank Lampard took charge of the club he won the Champions League with as a player in 2012. Chelsea fans were given a reason to cheer minutes after conceding, when a penalty was awarded after a VAR review saw referee Cüneyt Çakir go over to the pitchside screen to verify that Fikayo Tomori’s header hit the hand of Daniel Wass.
But it was not usual penalty taker Jorginho or Willian who took the spot kick. After a conversation with Willian, Ross Barkley pointed to his chest before going up to the spot.
And those earlier celebrations were short-lived as Barkley’s kick clipped the crossbar and flew over.
“I wanted to take it,” Willian said. “But he was confident to take it. It is football and he missed the penalty.”