Jurgen Klopp – “I saw the reaction I wanted to see,” after 2-0 victory over Napoli.

By Xorkpe Sosu 5 Min Read

Liverpool ended Napoli’s 13-match winning streak after a 2-0 victory in their Group A campaign as a revenge for their 4-1 defeat in Naples back in September.

Liverpool finished the Champions League group stage with a fifth consecutive victory as Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez scored late goals.

Leo Ostigard, a defender for the Italians, felt he had given his team the lead in the second half of the game, but VAR disallowed his header from a free-kick.

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The rebound of a Nunez header that Alex Meret had saved in front of the Kop was ultimately snuck across the line, and the Egyptian was there to tap it home in the 85th minute.

Mo Salah scores against Napoli

In the seventh minute of added time, Nunez scored again from close range after Meret had stopped a header from Virgil van Dijk.

Darwin Nunez scores 2nd for Liverpool

Even though Napoli lost in Merseyside, they still finished first in Group A. The in-form team had a run of 13 straight victories before they came to Anfield.

The outcome places the Reds in second place for the group stages, but they will find out their fate on November 7 during the last-16 draw.

After a shocking loss to Leeds on Saturday that snapped a 19-month streak of Premier League victories at Anfield, Klopp expressed his happiness with the squad’s response and expressed hope that it will give his team some confidence going into Sunday’s match against Tottenham.

“I saw the reaction I wanted to see,” Klopp said. “We all agreed we had to show a reaction and we did in a very difficult game against a really good opponent. We were compact so it was never easy for Napoli to play out.”

“You see a football playing side when they could. We saw how good they are in one versus one situations and collectively as well, but we did really well.”
“We kept the spaces small and all of a sudden we found challenges.

“We have the challenges so we can win the challenges.”
“The distance was there, a lot of good counter-pressing moments and good football moments.”

“Second half, after the disallowed goal for Napoli, it got a bit hectic. I understand, everybody was now up to speed.”

“We lost a little bit in too many situations for Napoli in counter-attacks. We weren’t compact enough anymore and they had had more moments.”

“Calmed that down a little bit and scored two really nice goals. We showed the right determination. We were there for the rebounds and finished it off to win the game. Very good.”

“We don’t doubt the quality, I don’t think anyone doubts the quality but that is a little bit part of the problem as well. So we show inconsistency, He added.”
“That is why I mention the second goal against Leeds, you have to defend with all you have.”

“That is where we have to make a proper step back and we did that. We defended with all we have tonight, were compact, close to the challenges and then showed the determination we have to show. We are Liverpool, a top team.”

“Nobody forgot what we did last year. The boys didn’t forget that but it now isn’t important really. I know people might get sick of it when I keep saying it but we really have to fight through and in that moment, then the football has a good chance to come back.”

“The real football that we can play. But we showed everything tonight, pieces of really good football and defensive stuff was on a high level. Napoli is in the moment a real force so it could be extremely difficult for us but the boys played a really good game.”

“That’s why it was not. We need consistency and stability. We will take the right conclusions from this game even though the next will be a difficult game. We will take the good stuff out of this game and start the next fight against Tottenham.”

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