Liverpool 2-0 Napoli: Five talking points from Anfield

AnalysisLiverpool 2-0 Napoli: Five talking points from Anfield

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By Glenn Price at Anfield

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Liverpool concluded their Group A Champions League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Napoli on Tuesday night.

Highlights: Liverpool 2-0 Napoli

Late goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez at Anfield ended the Serie A outfit's unbeaten European streak, as the Reds finished second in the section.

Here are five talking points from the match...

Salah equals Gerrard

With his poke past Alex Meret in front of the Kop five minutes before time, Salah tied a prestigious club record when he opened the scoring.

No player in Liverpool history has scored more European goals than the Egyptian, as he moved level with Steven Gerrard's tally of 41.

That finish was also his seventh in this season's Champions League, making him the competition's top scorer by the end of Tuesday night.

"Anyone can score, the most important thing is the team," Salah told BT Sport post-match. "As a striker I like to score, Darwin also likes to score, so we're glad that we could both score goals today."

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A flawless home record

Victory on Tuesday made it three from three in the Champions League at Anfield this campaign for Jürgen Klopp's men.

Triumphs over Napoli, Rangers and AFC Ajax in L4 saw the Reds win all of their home group games in successive seasons for the first time ever.

It was Atletico Madrid, FC Porto and AC Milan who were all beaten in 2021-22 en route to the final.

400 up for the boss

He somewhat downplayed its significance beforehand, but Tuesday's encounter brought up a very special landmark for Klopp.

The German took charge of his 400th game as Liverpool manager – celebrating it with victory No.249.

It's a stint that's produced countless memories and six major honours so far, with Tom Watson, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley the only other custodians in the club's history to reach the 400 figure.

"How you can imagine, I'm much more interested in the next 200, 300, I'm not sure, 400 and then we can talk," the boss reflected pre-match.

As the Kop chanted throughout, I'm so glad that Jürgen is a Red.

Welcome back, Ibou

'Ibouuuuuuu' came from the Kop for the first time this season early on against Napoli.

Konate returned from injury on Tuesday night in what was his first appearance at Anfield in 2022-23.

The centre-half showed few, if any, signs of rustiness, having not featured in the last five matches.

Front-foot, solid and progressive on the ball, it was a typical showing from the No.5.

Konate was the winner in five of his duels during his 90-minute showing, won possession six times and recorded 40 accurate passes.

It's good to have him back.

All eyes on the last 16

With the group stages wrapped up, Reds can turn their attention towards the last-16 draw, which takes place on Monday morning.

Having finished second in Group A, Klopp's side claim unseeded status and will therefore face a section winner – though it can't be a fellow Premier League club.

All will be confirmed on Wednesday evening but Porto and Bayern Munich will be among the teams Liverpool can face.

The first leg of the tie will be played at Anfield on February 14/15/21/22, with the return fixture taking place on March 7/8/14/15.

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