Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat to Napoli at the San Paolo on Tuesday night, as they started their Champions League defence with a loss.
The Reds lifted the trophy at the end of last season after a memorable European run, and they would have hoped to start on a positive note this time round.
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Unfortunately for Jurgen Klopp and his players, they were unable to do so as goals from Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente sealed the three points for the hosts.
In turn, Liverpool picked up an unwanted record as they became the first Champions League holders since 1994 to lose their opening game the year after winning the competition, as per the tweet below.
That’s not quite how they would have pictured their defence starting, and so now they’ll firstly have to bounce back against Chelsea this weekend in the Premier League before looking to put things right in Europe to ensure that they not only qualify for the knockout stages but remain in contention for top spot in the group.
Time will tell how that goes now, but the pressure will have increased slightly ahead of their clash with Red Bull Salzburg on October 2 as Liverpool will need to respond and avoid falling further behind their group rivals.
Liverpool are the first reigning Champions League holders to lose the opening game since Milan against Ajax in 1994-95.
Liveblog https://t.co/u49slztLu9 #NapoliLiverpool #NAPLIV #UCL
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) September 17, 2019
