He premiered champion's cockade Liverpool and ran into the same Murphy's law who first puts on some shiny white shoes: he filled them with mud in the first puddle. The defense of the Reds title ended in defeat at San Paolo (2-0), a stadium where he had already succumbed last year. Slowly, without the vigor that lifted the skies last season, the Klopp team ended up succumbing in the final 10 minutes, in which an Italian team usually demonstrates why it is Italian.

He did, of course, with a good ration of controversy in the first goal of Ancelotti . The diplomatic analysis of the action is that it was a very rigorous penalty. Speaking in silver, it was a slap of Alley after a slight contact from Robertson that the guarantee protocol of the VAR - premiere in a phase of Champions groups - did not correct. Already in the discount, Fernando Llorente took advantage of an improper defensive dismissal of the English team to boost the local triumph.

There were pending accounts between both teams, reflected in the recurring whistles of San Paolo when the ball was red. On the last day of the group stage last year, they both played an eighth place at Anfield. The Naples stayed to a single goal of a tie that served to eliminate who was going to become months later the champion of Europe.

Fate granted Ancelotti's chances for a rematch and they took advantage of it, even if they had to wait more than 80 minutes to start doing so. The meeting, in general, was pulling ugly, with Liverpool with hardly any space for the race and Naples quite uncomfortable in most plots of the pitch, with several players misplaced.

The first part was resolved without too much work for the goalkeepers, beyond a double intervention by Adrián - which continues to cover Alisson's casualty - before two chained shots by Fabián . He had more lucid moments in Liverpool, but they did not help him to bleed Naples, well led in defense by Koulibaly .

Great stop at Mertens

Adrián and Meret did have to show off at the beginning of the second half, especially the Spaniard, the protagonist of a monumental stop to Mertens shortly after returning from changing rooms. The game seemed to move towards a tie to zero until the controversial penalty came over Callejón, transformed by Mertens. The action had begun with a ball combed by Llorente, whose entry into the field improved to Naples, mainly because he expanded his catalog of defensive resources. The Rioja won the prize for his work in the discount with a goal given by the defense network. He only had to put the tip of the boot to sign the final 2-0.

In the rest of the day, Spanish team games on the sidelines highlighted two strong goals: that of the renewed Ajax al Lille (3-0) in the Valencia group and that of Salzburg al Genk (6-2).

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