Klopp reveals who he blames for Liverpool’s defeat to Napoli

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side could only blame themselves after the last year ’ s Champions League runners -up were overrun by Napoli before Lorenzo Insigne ’ s late winner gave the Italians a 1 – 0 win to go top of Group C on Wednesday .“We were not good enough and if you are not good enough , you ’ ll lose and that happened to us tonight . That ’ s it , ” said Klopp.

“Napoli made a really good game , we didn ’ t , and that ’ s why they deserve the three points . ”

Lorenzo Insigne scored after 90 minutes in a game Napoli dominated from the start with substitute Dries Mertens also rattling the crossbar .

The hosts had the better chances throughout as Insigne , Jose Callejon , Fabian Ruiz and Arkadiusz Milik all threatened under -pressure Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson .

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis — who hired three -time Champions League winning coach Carlo Ancelotti this season in place of Maurizio Sarri — hailed the success at their Stadio San Paolo.

“Big win against a great team ! Ancelotti worthy of his fame , ” wrote De Laurentiis on Twitter.

Last season Napoli ’ s style of football under Sarri impressed against Manchester City but the team lost 4 – 2 at home before exiting the competition in the group stage .

Insigne ’ s winner ensures they are top of Group C with four points , one more than Liverpool and Paris Saint -Germain .

“I think we timed it well , ” said former Chelsea and Real Madrid coach Ancelotti.

“If Mertens had scored a few minutes earlier , it would ’ ve been more time suffering.

“ We interpreted the game well . We had an extra central defender and were able to build the game from the back . There was a perfect balance . ”

Napoli needed a win on Wednesday after their opening match ended 0 – 0 at Red Star Belgrade .

Liverpool , meanwhile , played as if they would settle for a point after they beat Paris Saint -Germain 3 -2 .

The Reds ’ strike force of Roberto Firmino , Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were a shadow of the trio who terrorised Europe last season , with Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina not called upon for a single save .

Liverpool ’ s best effort came when Egyptian Salah shot wide after the break .

“It ’ s always a bad sign if you have to say your goalkeeper was your best player , but that was obvious tonight , ” said Klopp .

“The first half was kind of OK , but second half was not good enough .

“Obviously no attempt on target ( for us) … I don ’ t remember when that happened last . I am really fine to give the credit to Napoli , but I think we had a big part in it as well . ”

– ‘ Reality check ’ –

Liverpool were also handicapped by an injury to Guinean midfielder Naby Keita inside the first 20 minutes .

“We had prepared the match well, ” said Ancelotti, “ then it ’ s all about the performance and the guys played it well and we were rewarded with this victory that keeps us in the group .

“The team did well throughout the game , we never lost control , were always very focused , above all when defending and allowed Liverpool practically nothing . ”

Liverpool ’ s Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum said it was a “ reality check ” before next Sunday ’ s Premier League top -of – the -table clash with Manchester City .

“We have three days to recover and then we will face Man City , ” added German Klopp.

“It would have been difficult at any time in the season . Now , let ’ s have a look afterwards , how the players are , what happened in the game , injury- wise , little knocks and stuff like that . Then we will prepare for Sunday .

“Then we have our crowd in the back. You could see tonight, Napoli used the atmosphere and we couldn’ t calm it down with our performance.

“But on Sunday that – – at least — will be 100 percent different . ”

AFP .

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