Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp apologised for his red card and admitted Napoli “deserved” their victory.
Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp apologised for his red card and admitted Napoli “deserved” their victory.
The Coach saw red for a furious outburst of anger at the Fourth Official after Gonzalo Higuain’s opening goal, soon followed by goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller for handling outside the box.
“I got very angry with the official, as I accused him of not seeing something,” revealed Klopp in the Press conference.
“It was my problem and I apologised to him. I was taken over by the emotion of the moment and it brought out the worst in me. There was another red card soon after mine that was even worse for the team. From then on, the game was in a bad way. We hit the bar in the second half, but it was not enough.
“I watched the rest of the match from the stands. At the start there were a few problems, as I didn’t know where to go. I watched the substitutions that were made with great faith in my assistant manager, who has a lot of experience. It was difficult watching from up there, as I couldn’t make any decisions.”
Napoli are now joint top of the group along with Arsenal, who won 2-1 away to Olympique Marseille, so are real contenders for qualification.
“Napoli have exceptional players and can go very far in this competition. This evening was, however, just one match. If we had won it would’ve been a great victory, because we played against a great side.
“Every year the competition is different. We can do well, even if this is one of the most difficult groups. We deserved the defeat this evening, but we did something good too. We are self-critical and always prepared to reflect on our mistakes.”