Jurgen Klopp was clearly stunned after Liverpool were destroyed 4-1 by Napoli in the Champions League and admits they were simply well beaten. ‘It’s a really tough cookie to take.’
The Partenopei could easily have had more goals, as Victor Osimhen hit the woodwork and saw his penalty parried by Alisson Becker.
That is not taking into account the two Piotr Zielinski goals, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone, with only Luis Diaz getting one back for the Reds.
That was the first ever goal Liverpool scored on Neapolitan soil after a 0-0 draw and three defeats here.
It is also their joint heaviest ever loss in the Champions League, losing by three clear goals.
“It’s tough to take. Not that difficult to explain when you saw the game. We started with two penalties…” a visibly flustered Klopp told BT Sport.
“First and foremost, Napoli played a really good game and we didn’t. That is the first explanation for the defeat.
“The two penalties we conceded, for sure one, perhaps both unlucky, but only one goes in. The next two goals were served on a plate, that is not cool, we should’ve defended better.
“We were 3-0 down, never really in the game, we were not compact defensively or offensively. Until Thiago entered the pitch I don’t remember a single counter-pressing situation.
“The reason is we were just too wide, were not connected. Everything was obvious, but why it happened, that I cannot answer right now. It’s a really tough cookie to take, but obviously I have to take it.”
The first half ended 3-0 for Napoli and could comfortably have been a lot worse on Liverpool, as Alisson saved the Osimhen penalty.
“We played bad first halves before, but usually we don’t concede three goals. With Alisson in goal you have to be really bad for that to happen and we were bad enough.
“We played here and lost 2-0, that was an awful game as well. It looks a little bit like we have to reinvent ourselves.
“There are a lot of things lacking in our team, the fun part is we have to do it in the middle of a Champions League and Premier League campaign. Probably Wolves cannot stop laughing after watching this game, they play us next in the perfect moment.
“We need to find a set up to be much better in pretty much everything. You can see we are not working as a team. In football there is always a solution, but we don’t play good enough, that’s what everyone sees.
“Still, it’s my job to do, it’s my responsibility. I need time to think about it, a few things are really obvious, but now we need to reset and go.”