Liverpool 1-1 Napoli: Champions League – as it happened

Last modified: 10: 08 PM GMT+0

Dejan Lovren equalised at Anfield to earn Liverpool a point at home to Napoli, who opened the scoring through Dries Mertens

Here is Andy Hunter’s report ...

Full-time: Liverpool 1-1 Napoli

Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League will go down to the wire, to Salzburg to be precise. Their destiny is still in their own hands, at least. Napoli again prove Liverpool’s bogey team, making life difficult at Anfield despite offering precious little. They rarely ventured beyond the halfway line.

90+4 min: Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick is poor. Napoli clear.

Updated

90+4 min: Koulibaly concedes a free-kick after clambering over Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool free-kick, centrally, 40 yards out ..

Updated

90+3 min: Into the final minute at Anfield ...

90+1 min: Robertson is booked after a bit of aggro, needlessly shoving Di Lorenzo into the advertising hoardings. That shove goes down like a lead balloon and Koulibaly sprints 50 yards to defend his team-mate, earning him a yellow card for his efforts.

Updated

90 min: There will be four added minutes. Also in Group E, Salzburg have beaten Genk 4-1 to move within touching distance of Napoli and Liverpool.

89 min: Anfield seems resigned to a point after Lovren lashes a cross in for Firmino, who cannot divert it goalwards.

88 min: Eventually Younes clears Napoli’s lines after two good headers by Koulibaly. Napoli are happy to cling on.

87 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain is faced with not one but three Napoli defenders – but he buys Liverpool a corner at the Kop end ...

Updated

86 min: Napoli wallop a hopeful ball into the box and Alisson gets there long before Fernando Llorente.

Updated

85 min: Younes replaces Zielinski.

83 min: Liverpool are probing. But Napoli have a bank of five, a bank of four, and then Llorente, who is languishing 35 yards from his own goal. Ancelotti wants a point. Klopp wants three to secure qualification to the knockout stages without any faff.

Updated

81 min: Elmas replaces Napoli goalscorer Dries Mertens.

79 min: Wijnaldum lashes a volley effort wide! A nice try, but it dips just wide of Meret’s right post. Oxlade-Chamberlain tried to feed Salah with a bending cross from the right but Napoli cut it out, though only as far as Wijnaldum, who had every right to have a go at goal. Can Liverpool find the second they crave?

Updated

78 min: Alexander-Arnold replaces Milner.

77 min: Robertson tries to locate Firmino – but the Brazilian runs out of room to manoeuvre at the byline. Meanwhile Trent Alexander-Arnold is getting the final lowdown on how to hurt Napoli. He’ll be coming on.

Updated

74 min: Henderson clips in a decent ball, but Meret is equal to it. Other than a moment of madness, leading to Koulibaly hacking Firmino’s effort off the line, Meret has looked very assured.

73 min: It’s one-way traffic at Anfield. Liverpool just need to stay patient. Llorente, who featured for Tottenham in last season’s Champions League final, has at least given Napoli an out-ball.

Updated

72 min: Firmino forces Manolas into conceding another corner ...

Updated

71 min: Fernando Llorente replaces Lozano. Those eyes.

70 min: Napoli are playing for a draw – but such a tactic plays them into trouble as they concede another corner. They cannot get out of their own half. Liverpool will, surely, find a winner. Won’t they?

66 min: Klopp gesticulates as if to say, ‘more of the same, please.’ It has taken a while for Liverpool to grind through the gears but they’re the ones in the driving seat now. Oxlade-Chamberlain has undoubtedly made a difference. He’s given Liverpool a much-needed spark. Meanwhile, RB Salzburg lead Genk 3-0.

Updated

GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Napoli (Lovren, 65)

That’s the one. Lovren sneaks into the box and powers home a brilliant header from the penalty spot. He gives Mertens a little shove but the VAR check is over unusually swiftly, and Liverpool have an equaliser. Robertson’s corner was on the money – and Lovren’s header was better than it looked. A belter.

Updated

62 min: Big Liverpool chance! It is an incisive move – Robertson-Mané-Oxlade-Chamberlain-Firmino – but the Liverpool No 9 cannot get his header on target. Oxlade-Chamberlain floats a cross to the back post, where Manolas wrestles with Firmino, making life difficult for the Brazilian to get a clear header away. Wide.

61 min: Robertson rampages forward down the left and fizzes the ball into Salah, who has a couple of sky blue shirts for company. But Salah snatches at it first time and, while there is pace on the ball, he cannot trouble Meret, who smothers rather easily.

Updated

60 min: Manolas is first to it and Meret gathers.

59 min: Robertson wins Liverpool a corner ...

58 min: Van Dijk attempts a truly wondrous through ball for Robertson – but Milner inadvertently takes it away from his team-mate.

57 min: A pat on the back from Klopp for Gomez, but he’s had a difficult time at right-back. Henderson has seemingly dropped to full-back, allowing Oxlade-Chamberlain to get things going in midfield.

56 min: Gomez pulls at Fabián Ruiz’s shirt – and that’s his last contribution. Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces the defender.

55 min: Off the line by Koulibaly! Captain fantastic slices the ball away from danger after Meret makes a mess of a cross. Firmino hooks the ball goalwards – it’s heading in – but Koulibaly is on the goal line to prevent Liverpool from stabbing home an equaliser.

Updated

53 min: Liverpool have not exactly brought the noise so far this second half. This has been a tinny performance thus far.

52 min: Gomez wellies a cross straight out of play for a Napoli goal-kick. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is warming up vigorously.

51 min: But Lozano goes on to win a corner ...

50 min: Shariqi, Origi and Alexander-Arnold are limbering up. Klopp wants more from his team, with Napoli on the front foot. Mertens’s cute dummy catches Lovren and Van Dijk cold but Lozano cannot get hold of the ball.

47 min: Koulibaly is brilliant, isn’t he? He makes another block, this time on Henderson after decent buildup play by Salah.

46 min: Milner gets us back under way.

Essential half-time reading:

Updated

Half-time: Liverpool 0-1 Napoli

Klopp jogs down the tunnel. Things not going to plan, especially with RB Salzburg leading 2-0 at Genk.

45+4 min: Meret makes a smart save from Milner! The midfielder goes for power and the goalkeeper has to be alert to repel his effort. An instinctive stop after Milner’s shot from a tight angle.

Updated

45+2 min: Klopp is booked by the referee for mouthing off. He is ever so frustrated. Allan clattered Mané.

Updated

45 min: There will be four added minutes.

Updated

45 min: Mané goes over just in the box – but the referee’s having none of it! He had Di Lorenzo for company and, as much as there is some sort of contact, the Liverpool forward was certainly looking for it. Robertson did well to slide the ball across into Mané. Seemingly no VAR check.

Updated

43 min: Robertson’s first corner is naff. His second is even worse, as it bends out of play before looping back into the box.

42 min: Mané shrugs off Di Lorenzo and then Allan goes in hard on the forward on the edge of the box, but Liverpool only garner a corner ...

Updated

40 min: Liverpool come alive – a lovely move! An exquisite flick by Firmino, who played a beautiful give-and-go with Mané. The Senegalese pings a low ball across goal but Koulibaly was in the right place at the right time. Joe Gomez was lurking at the back post but his wait for his first senior goal goes on.

Updated

39 min: Henderson cajoles the troops upfield but then Liverpool inadvertently slow things down, with Salah playing the ball back inside and eventually it comes all the way back to Van Dijk on halfway. It’s all a bit predictable from a Liverpool perspective.

37 min: Mertens slides a ball in for Lozano, but his partner in crime doesn’t read it. He would have been offside anyway but, still. A slither of encouragement for Napoli.

35 min: Van Dijk heads at Meret! That’s the first real save the Napoli goalkeeper has had to make, and it was simple enough. Liverpool won a cheap free-kick 35 yards out and Robertson’s delivery was good, pinpoint to Van Dijk but the Dutchman couldn’t generate enough power to trouble Meret.

Updated

35 min: Crikey this is lethargic stuff from Liverpool. In fairness, Napoli have every man and his dog behind the ball.

Updated

33 min: Luis Suárez has scored ... for Barcelona against Dortmund. Back at Anfield things aren’t really clicking for Liverpool – yet.

Updated

31 min: It’s all Liverpool, even if they have been a little stale. They have been quite pedestrian in their buildup play. Those explosive forays forward have been few and far between. Still, Napoli lead and Dries Mertens is sniffing around in search of a second. “Napoli are basically Europe’s version of Crystal Palace for Liverpool,” emails Anthony O’Connell.

29 min: The Spanish referee is livid with Milner for going through the back of Di Lorenzo. Ancelotti wants action but none is taken, just a stern word.

28 min: “I want a third VAR check,” emails John Moran. Nothing would surprise me ... Meanwhile in Genk v Salzburg, it’s 0-0.

25 min: Van Dijk is back up on his feet alongside Lovren in the heart of the Liverpool defence. Fabinho has already been withdrawn.

24 min: After all that, Napoli do definitely lead Liverpool.

Updated

23 min: Hang on, another VAR check ... for offside ...

Updated

22 min: There is a silent VAR check, because of that bump between Mertens and Van Dijk – but the goal stands ...

GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Napoli (Mertens, 21)

Well, well, well. Klopp is seething. Van Dijk goes down injured after colliding with Mertens, who races on to a through ball and emphatically smacks it across goal beyond Alisson. It was some finish, with Mertens calmly picking his spot after latching on to Giovanni di Lorenzo’s magnificent pass. With Van Dijk on the deck, the rest of the Liverpool defence was totally absent.

Updated

20 min: Meret coolly claims a hanging Mané cross. He looks a pretty classy goalkeeper. It’s still very much all Liverpool.

19 min: Ah, Fabinho has to come off. He was limping after that corner and he trudges straight down the tunnel. On comes Wijnaldum.

17 min: It comes to nothing, but it was a smart move in the first place. Manolas blocked Mané after the forward was played in over the top by an exquisite 50-yard pass downfield by Virgil van Dijk.

17 min: Liverpool win a corner ...

16 min: Fabinho jogs back on. No problem.

14 min: Fabinho is down for a moment or two, prompting Wijnaldum to hastily warmup. But the Brazilian is fine to carry on.

Updated

12 min: Now this is admirable. Mário Rui, the Napoli left-back, spots Alisson off his line and fancies a pop at goal. Rui, who nudges the ball forward a touch or two, is a yard inside his own half as he lets fly. His effort is far from disastrous but it’s a little wayward and Alisson jogs back towards goal and scoops up the ball besides the advertising hoardings.

10 min: Koulibaly misjudges a routine header and Salah flies down the right flank. He jinks inside before bamboozling Koulibaly after the defender tried to get back at his man. Salah tries to float a cross into the box but that’s no trouble for Meret.

8 min: Fabinho overcooks a high ball over the top of the Napoli defence in search of Mané. Meret races out to greet him, heading the ball clear before Henderson tries and fails to gather the seconds. Napoli have seen precious little of the ball.

Updated

7 min: Di Lorenzo is back to his feet and, almost instantly, he is fouled by Mané. When things aren’t going your way ...

6 min: Di Lorenzo is grounded after coming off worse in an aerial challenge with Milner. The Napoli winger beat Milner to a header but came crashing back down to earth and requires treatment. The physio digs out some magic spray, and that seems to have done the trick. How many injuries has that cured over the years?

Updated

5 min: Sadio Mané surges down the left but Maksimovic blocks him off. Napoli goal-kick. Bright start for Liverpool, whose supporters seem well up for it.

4 min: Lozano spreads play wide to Di Lorenzo but the cross in is painfully poor. It zooms on to the roof of Alisson’s net.

3 min: Firmino plays a sly ball in for Salah but Koulibaly is equal to it. Sadio Mané is then almost freed and Napoli, eventually, choose to clear their lines. Liverpool have made a fast start here.

2 min: Napoli swing an early free-kick into the box but Liverpool whoosh it clear. Salah races in behind but Meret is alert to it.

Peeeeeeeep!

And Napoli get us under way.

It’s almost time. Sadio Mané’s busy tying his bootlaces while the Champions League anthem echoes around Anfield. Jordan Henderson, for one, looks absolutely pumped. The Liverpool skipper has just won the coin toss. Bodes well.

Updated

The teams are in the tunnel. Here we go ...

Klopp speaks. “They are set up for a result here, what can I say?” he says. “They have brought everybody that is available, they have speed up front, technique in midfield and they bring all the physicality they can for defending. It will be a tough one.” As for Joe Gomez filling in at full-back in place of Alexander-Arnold, he says: “Joe was full of dynamic in the last couple of weeks and we want to him let him off the leash. We have that option so we take it.” Asked about turbulence at Napoli, Klopp is pragmatic: “When you don’t know exactly what happens there ... the only thing I think is ‘what would I do in the situation?’ I’d try and bring the camp completely together. We probably have to expect that from Carlo [Ancelotti] as well. There is no advantage for us, absolutely not, and it’s not a disadvantage. Game on, that’s all.”

Updated

It’s all happening in Valencia:

Team news news: Klopp makes three changes, with Salah, Joe Gomez and James Milner in for Alexander-Arnold, Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Xherdan Shaqiri, meanwhile, is on the bench for the first time since September after returning from injury. If Napoli are going to do the double over Liverpool, they will have to go some, because they are without Arkadiusz Milik and Lorenzo Insigne. Fabián Ruiz is helluva player, though.

Updated

The teams!

Liverpool: Alisson; Gomez, Van Dijk, Lovren, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mané

Subs: Adrián, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Shaqiri, Origi, Alexander-Arnold

Napoli: Meret; Maksimovic, Manolas, Koulibaly, Rui; Di Lorenzo, Fabián Ruiz, Allan, Zielinski; Lozano, Mertens

Subs: Ospina, Luperto, Elmas, Gaetano, Callejon, Llorente, Younes

Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

Preamble

Their defence of this competition may have got under way on a bum note in Naples but Liverpool have been unblemished since that defeat in September, going on to show their true colours. That loss is one of a few anomalies in an extraordinary year – Jürgen Klopp’s side have lost just four matches in 2019 – and they edged past the Serie A side at Anfield 1-0 en route to the final last season. Victory will once more secure passage to the knockout stages of a competition they fell head over heels for all over again last season. For Klopp, it is the 100th European game of his managerial career, dating back to visiting Armenia with Mainz. In Napoli they face a brilliant team perturbed by off-field troubles, with club president Aurelio de Laurentiis set to fine players because of a failure to attend a week-long training camp and Carlo Ancelotti’s side winless in six matches. Some housekeeping: the winner of this, if there is one, will qualify from Group E and if Red Bull Salzburg fail to win at Genk then Liverpool will qualify for the last 16, even if they lose to Napoli. “I expect Napoli to be really strong for a number of reasons,” Klopp said. “They are a really good football team and now they’re not in Italy, they feel maybe relief they can play in this game. Napoli gave us a proper fight at Anfield last season. We have to make sure from the first second this is a different place. We want to go as far as possible in the Champions League. Napoli are experienced, tactically strong, super players.”

Kick-off: 8pm (GMT)

Contributor

Ben Fisher

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Liverpool 1-0 Napoli: Champions League – as it happened
Minute-by-minute report: Liverpool eliminated Napoli and snaffled a place in the Champions League knockout stages thanks to Mo Salah’s first-half goal

Simon Burnton

11, Dec, 2018 @10:29 PM

Article image
Napoli 2-0 Liverpool: Champions League – as it happened
Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente got the goals as Napoli capitalised on rare errors from Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk

Barry Glendenning

17, Sep, 2019 @9:28 PM

Article image
Napoli 4-1 Liverpool: Champions League – as it happened
Minute-by-minute report: Napoli routed abject Liverpool, who looked a shadow of their former selves. Scott Murray was watching.

Scott Murray

07, Sep, 2022 @9:33 PM

Article image
Napoli 1-0 Liverpool: Champions League - as it happened
Minute-by-minute report: Local hero Lorenzo Insigne struck late as Liverpool were eventually punished for a lacklustre display. Scott Murray was watching.

Scott Murray

03, Oct, 2018 @9:23 PM

Article image
Dejan Lovren’s header rescues point for Liverpool against Napoli
Liverpool must wait to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League after they drew 1-1 with Napoli at Anfield

Andy Hunter at Anfield

27, Nov, 2019 @10:00 PM

Article image
Dries Mertens and Napoli show rivals that Liverpool have their flaws | Barney Ronay
Premier League teams really could do a lot worse than study the tapes of these 180 Champions League minutes

Barney Ronay at Anfield

28, Nov, 2019 @12:06 AM

Article image
Liverpool 1-0 Napoli: how the players rated in the Champions League
Georginio Wijnaldum proves the outstanding player for Liverpool, while Kalidou Koulibaly shines for Napoli

Andy Hunter at Anfield

11, Dec, 2018 @11:32 PM

Article image
Salah and Núñez strike to get Liverpool back to winning ways against Napoli
Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñez scored late on to give Liverpool a 2-0 win against Napoli although the Anfield side still finished second in Group A

Andy Hunter at Anfield

01, Nov, 2022 @10:10 PM

Article image
Champions League roundup: Lorenzo Insigne saves Napoli against PSG
Lorenzo Insigne equalised from the penalty spot to make it 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain while Thierry Henry saw his Monaco side lose 4-0 at home to Club Brugge

Guardian sport

06, Nov, 2018 @10:52 PM

Article image
Champions League: Bellingham glides through Napoli with hint of Maradona
Roundup: Jude Bellingham’s brilliance produced two goals during eight first-half minutes to help Real Madrid to a 3-2 win at Napoli in Champions League Group C

Guardian sport and agencies

03, Oct, 2023 @10:02 PM