Napoli blow Liverpool away with a famous 4-1 win. The hosts quickly started when Milner handled Zielinski’s shot, allowing the midfielder to convert from the spot.
And it could have immediately got worse when Osimhen missed a penalty, and Van Dijk blocked Kvaratskhelia’s goalbound shot on the line.
However, Napoli were all over Liverpool, and they eventually got their deserved reward when Zambo Anguissa and Simeone added to the lead with two reasonable goals.
The second half started similarly when Zielinski grabbed his second before Diaz stemmed the tide with a good goal.
From there, Liverpool fought hard for a route back into the game.
But Napoli held them at bay to run out impressive winners.
Starting lineup:
NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): Alex Meret;
Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Kim Min-Jae, Mathias Olivera;
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka;
Matteo Politano, Piotr Zielinski, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia;
Victor Osimhen.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson;
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joseph Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson;
Harvey Elliott, Fabinho, James Milner;
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Luis Diaz.
Goals:
GOALLL! 1-0. ZIELINSKI! Napoli have an early lead. Zielinski steps up and confidently sends Alisson the wrong way, before firing it into the top left corner!
GOALLL! ZAMBO ANGUISSA! 2-0. Napoli doubles their lead with a superb goal. Kvaratskhelia snatches it off Gomez and dashes to the byline. He rolls it to Zambo Anguissa who plays a sharp one-two with Zielinski to find himself clean through on goal at an angle! He takes a touch before slotting it in at the near post!
GOALLL! SIMEONE! 3-0. Napoli, get another! Zambo Anguissa spins past his marker and releases Kvaratskhelia. The attacker skips past Alexander-Arnold quickly before outmuscling Gomez and hitting it across the face of the goal, where Simeone’s on hand to tap it in!
GOALL! ZIELINSKI! 4-0. Napoli gets another just after the break. Zambo Anguissa exploits Liverpool’s high line with a superb through ball into the channel. Simeone latches onto it and squares it for Zielinski, who fires a strike at Alisson before dinking the rebound over the goalkeeper!
GOAL! DIAZ! 4-1. Liverpool pulls one back. Robertson feeds Diaz on the edge of the box, and the attacker darts inside before bending a superb curling effort into the far corner from 20 yards!
So, what’s next?
The result means that Napoli made a fast start in Group A and climbed to second. Liverpool will now be in third.
