Napoli scored three first-half goals to thrash Liverpool 4-1 in their opening UEFA Champions League (UCL) group A match at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Wednesday night.
The Italian Serie A side overpowered an out-of-sorts Liverpool, thanks to a blistering first-half performance that saw Luciano Spalletti’s side shred the visitors’ defense to bits with goals from Piotr Zielinski (brace), Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa and Giovanni Simeone, while Luiz Diaz scored Liverpool’s consolation.
The defeat is Liverpool’s third at Napoli in four years.
Zielinski gave Napoli the lead through a fifth-minute penalty following James Milner’s handball before Victor Osimhen failed to double the advantage as Alisson Becker, Liverpool goalkeeper, kept out his poorly taken penalty kick.
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Anguissa would later finish off a move that started with Liverpool losing the ball in their half to make it 2-0 before Simeone, a first-half substitute for the injured Osimhen, scored the third goal on his UCL debut.
Zielinski made it 4-0 two minutes into the second half, scoring the rebound off his short before Diaz gave the visitors their solitary consolation goal with a 20-yard strike two minutes later.
Elsewhere, Robert Lewandowski scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona as the Catalans eased past Viktoria Plzen 5-1 at Camp Nou, while Bayern Munich scored a goal in each half to overcome Inter Milan 2-0 in Italy.
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RESULTS
- Ajax 4-0 Rangers
- Frankfurt 0-3 Sporting Lisbon
- Napoli 4-1 Liverpool
- Tottenham 2-0 Olympic Marseille
- Atletico Madrid 2-1 FC Porto
- Club Brugge 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
- FC Barcelona 5-1 Viktoria Plzen
- Inter Milan 0-2 Bayern Munich
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