Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has admitted his team-mates were scared of Liverpool in their Champions League defeat on Tuesday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men went into the game at Anfield knowing a draw would be enough to see them advance to the last-16 of the Champions League, but Mohamed Salah scored the only goal on the night, sending Liverpool through at Napoli’s expense.
And Koulibaly, who is a Manchester United target according to the London Evening Standard, admitted his team was perhaps overwhelmed by the stature of their opponents.
Why did Koulibaly and Napoli fear Liverpool? Five key things to know:
- Liverpool had already beaten Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star Belgrade at Anfield in the Champions League before Tuesday’s game.
- Napoli needed just a point after already drawing with PSG and Red Star on the road.
- The hosts went into the game having scored 20 goals across their last six European home matches.
- Koulibaly is considered one of Europe’s best centre-backs but was at fault for Salah’s goal.
- The defender admits Napoli may have “unconsciously” feared Liverpool.
“It was an important game, we knew they had to win,” Koulibaly said, as reported by the Express.
“We could avoid that goal and we should have done more to score one.
“It went differently, now we will do our best in the Europa League.
“Maybe, unconsciously, we feared Liverpool because we know they are very strong and that it’s not easy to play against them.
“We have a strong team that can beat everyone, and we came close to scoring.
“A draw was enough, but we lost.
“It’s just a negative night, we’ll have other positive nights for sure.”
Napoli had a big chance to earn a draw at Anfield in the final few minutes of the match but Arkadiusz Milik’s shot from close range was right at goalkeeper Alisson, who saved well.
The Italian side will now have to settle for a place in the Europa League knockout stages, where they will discover their fate on Monday.
“No one will want to draw Liverpool in the Champions League”
Liverpool finishing second in their group behind Paris Saint-Germain means they could draw a big team in the last-16.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will face one of Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Porto, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Juventus in the next round, with some restrictions still included in the draw.
But former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Liverpool have nothing to fear about any of their potential opponents, instead naming the Reds as the team to avoid.
Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: “Jurgen sounded more pleased with the way that they played and they nullified a Napoli team who have got goals in them and they didn’t really create much.
“They started playing out of character which is a fantastic achievement. The tenacity with which they play with is unrivalled in Europe at the moment.
“They are aggressive, on the front foot and their attention to detail is something to behold but when you’ve got Mo Salah, Mane and Firmino backing it up this are a team you wouldn’t want to come out of the hat and have to play against.”
The post Napoli were afraid of Liverpool, admits Kalidou Koulibaly appeared first on Squawka News.
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