Tag Archives: Napoli

Defeat Liverpool is the affirmation of Napoli in Europe

In recent seasons, Napoli has always shown weakness in the Champions League, especially in decisive matches. Defeats to Shakhtar Donetsk under Maurizio Sarri 2017-18, or to Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star Belgrade last year showed that.


However, a convincing victory over defending champion Liverpool in the opening match of the Champions League this season showed another Napoli. A Napoli that changed the way of seeing the surname of the football experts and the fans of Partenopei himself. Napoli has shown they are no longer afraid to meet the big boys, a sign that Carlo Ancelotti finally infused the Champions League charm into his players.

Hạ Liverpool là lời khẳng định của Napoli ở châu Âu

The launch of an attacking squad also proves Ancelotti is willing to risk attacking, including in front of an opponent like Liverpool, and the positive thing is that Napoli did exactly what the former Milan coach asked. Only through the match against Liverpool in San Paolo yesterday morning, Ancelotti has shown that he is the most suitable person to take Napoli far in the Champions League. It is worth recalling that, in addition to winning the Champions League with Milan and Real Madrid three times, Ancelotti has beaten Liverpool 4 times with 4 different teams 4 times.

With the appropriate additions, Napoli finally got the squad depth needed to fight in both Serie A and the Champions League. In Ancelotti’s 4-4-2 diagram, the attacking duo Dries Mertens – Hirving Lozano moved very wide and flexible, enabling the two wingers Jose Callejon – Lorenzo Insigne to roam freely. Even when replacing Lozano with Fernando Llorente, Ancelotti’s Napoli still maintained the threat to Liverpool goal, and the 34-year-old veteran was the goalscorer who set up a 2-0 victory.

Kết quả hình ảnh cho Hạ Liverpool là lời khẳng định của Napoli ở châu Âu

Llorente is the perfect backup plan to help Tottenham advance to the final last season and that is why Ancelotti brought the Spanish striker to San Paolo. Llorente possessed the instincts of an assassin, and although he was a substitute, he was still Ancelotti’s important card. Of course, when completely healed, Arkadiusz Milik is still No.1 striker of Napoli.

In the middle, rookie Eljif Elmas is also a strategic card for Ancelotti even just coming on from the bench. The 19-year-old Macedonian midfielder only played the last 15 minutes against Liverpool when replacing Allan but still showed a lot, especially the ability to pass the ball and reduce pressure on the midfield between Napoli.