Napoli brought the heat on a humid night on the west coast of Italy as Liverpool continued their lacklustre form in the cauldron of the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Liverpool have only won two of their opening six Premier League games and carried their lacklustre form to their Group A opener against Napoli.
In contrast, Serie A’s second-placed side are unbeaten in five, so it was no surprise Liverpool’s backline was leaking chances in a relatively one-sided encounter.
A second half strike from Luis Diaz was not enough to inspire the Reds to a comeback with Azzuri’s first half business sank Jurgen Klopp’s men.
The Liverpool Boss will be hoping he doesn’t have to return to Naples any time soon after suffering his fourth successive defeat there.
Story of the match
Klopp made two changes to the side that started in the Merseyside Derby stalemate as Roberto Firmino replaced Darwin Nunez, and James Milner came in for the injured Fabio Carvalho.
The opening minutes symbolised The Reds’ start to the campaign. Victor Osimhen set the tone in the first minute as the striker hit the outside of the post.
Carlos Del Cerro Grande awarded the hosts a penalty as the ball appeared to strike off James Milner’s arm.
Piotr Zielinksi got his first of the night as he sent Alisson Becker the wrong way from 12-yards-out.
History could’ve repeated itself shortly after as VAR intervened to penalise Virgil van Dijk for a foul on Osimhen.
Controversially, the Nigerian stepped up instead of Zielinski, but only to see Alisson deny the forward Napoli’s second.
The Napoli faithful’s energy was injected into their players as Luciano Spalletti’s side secure a well deserved second as Andre Zambo Anguissa, who was excellent on the night, neatly slotted past Alisson.
Joe Gomez, who was defensively flawless at Goodison Park on Saturday, had a European night to forget.
At fault for losing the ball for the second goal, the defender was outfought for Napoli’s third on the stroke of half time.
Giovanni Simeone, son of Diego, was on task to fire home from close range only minutes into his Champions League debut.
The minimum you’d expect from a Jurgen Klopp side after a half like that is a response in the second. But it was Zielinski who diverted past Alisson for a second time, two minutes after the restart.
Liverpool’s shining light on the night, and one of few for Liverpool thus far this season, was Luis Diaz. He produced a trademark finish into the far corner from the edge of the Napoli area.
But it was too little too late for the Reds to travel back to Merseyside with anything.
Outfought. Outthought. Outran. The latter being the most worrying, given every opponent this season has ran further than Liverpool this season.
A positive on a dismal night for Liverpool is the return of Thiago and Joel Matip.
With Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez returning last weekend, personnel is not the issue for Klopp.
Many remain confident that Liverpool will return to their high intensity, relentless football. But sooner rather than later will be Klopp’s aim, if winning more silverware is on Liverpool’s mind.
Player of the match: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Winning the main battle on the night, the Napoli players had a battle for player of the match, with many being deserved of the award.
The young Georgian has set Italy alight since his arrival on the west coast. It’s clear to see the quality the 21-year-old has on the ball, but his work-rate off it was a huge factor in Liverpool’s struggles.