The big derby of the 1st group of the Champions League between Liverpool and Napoli has been painted red! Jurgen Klopp’s team showed character for another European game this year after winning 2-0 on goals from Salah and Nunes. That result wasn’t enough to secure first place in the Partenopei, but was content with the fact that Luciano Spalletti’s side were delivered to their first loss of the year in all competitions.

There was even a Greek flavor to Liverpool’s success as Kostas Tsimikas not only started but also scored both of his side’s goals off his feet.

In the 85th minute he took a corner and tagged Nunez’s head with his header being saved by Meret for Salah to make it 1-0 by a margin while in the 90th + 8th minute he gave another corner from the left of Cimika, it was Núñez’s turn to put the ball in the net after Merrett saved from Van Dijk’s header.

It should be noted that Jurgen Klopp made 400 appearances in all competitions on the Liverpool bench in this game, including 100 for the Champions League, with the German becoming just the 7th manager in history with a triple-digit number of appearances at the top Level (counts 58 wins, only Guardiola has more wins with 61 in his first 100 Champions League games).

The match

The first part at Anfield didn’t have many big stages ahead of the two teams but was extremely exciting for the fans as the game was played at a fairly high pace. Liverpool hit the ground harder and only scored in the 5th minute when Salah Jones put a hole in the ball and he “flicked” the ball at Merrett to sadistically send it into the top of the net.

After the first quarter, which belonged to the Reds, the Partenopei equalized and tried to create cracks, mainly through Kvaratshelia, their good moment coming in the 29th minute with Ndombele’s shot that found Alison ready.

In the same minute, Rangers had the best moment of the 45th minute when Thiago’s cross from outside the box forced Merrett to dive into his left corner to save, while in the 30th minute the quite active Jones again with his threatened header (after an impressive air hook from Firmino) goes over the bar.

The 0-0 remained until the two teams went into the dressing room at half-time and it was perfectly fair judging by the draw and the two teams’ recent efforts, both on aggregate (3) and away goals (1) . , but also 52%-48% in favor of the Reds in possession.

The second half began with a phase that “set fire” to Anfield, first that of the visiting Napoli fans and then the rest of the stadium. This happened in the 53rd minute when Estigard defeated Alisson with a header from a Kvaratthelia free-kick, but after the Italians’ first celebration the situation was investigated by VAR for possible offside.

After four minutes, it was the “Reds” fans turn to burst into cheers and cheers, with technique noting that the scorer was exposed by a few millimeters and not counting the Partenopei’s goal. A few minutes later (60′), the Serie A leaders scored again, but this time it was Alisson who stopped Kvaratthelia’s one-point shot.

After this period the pace slowed and both coaches seemed more concerned with managing the game without getting injured, but after the 80’s the game “caught fire” with… the prankster Kostas Tsimikas playing on both Playing his team involved was goals.

The first came in the 85th minute when the Greece international took a corner from the left and Nunes headed in. Merret cleared on the line but Salah collected the rebound to defeat the Italy keeper to make it 1-0 for the home side.

The 90+8′ sealed Liverpool’s fifth consecutive Champions League win and Napoli’s first defeat in five straight victories in the competition. Csimika took a corner, Van Dijk pulled in a great header, Merrett made a shaky save and Nunes put the ball in the net to make it 2-0 in the end.

LIVERPOOL: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (87′ Ramsey), Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Milner (48′ Elliott), Thiago (87′ Bacetic), Jones (73′ Nunes), Salah, Firmino (87′ Carvalho)

NAPLES: Merret, Di Lorenzo, Estigard, Kim, Olivera, Endombele (88′ Raspadori), Lobotka (83′ Zielinski), Angisa, Politano (70′ Lozano), Osimen (88′ Osimen), Kvaratthelia (83′ Elmas)

The results of the 6th round:

• Liverpool – Naples 2-0 (85′ Salah, 90+8′ Nunes)
• Rangers-Ajax 1-3 (87′ Tavernier / 4′ Berkhaus, 29′ Kountous, 89′ Conceição)