Napoli’s gaps at the back give Liverpool encouragement
If Liverpool have any Champions League itches left to scratch, you would guess that rectifying the events of last season at Napoli would be foremost among them. It must seem like a lifetime ago for the now-holders that they struggled so badly on the road in last season’s group stage, and it all began at San Paolo.
All of Carlo Ancelotti’s Champions League chops were apparent as his team neutered The Reds on the way to a late victory, and it set a grisly template to Jürgen Klopp‘s team. They barely managed to create decent opportunities, let alone score them, in their away trips to Naples, Belgrade and Paris – and needed that Matchday 6 win against Napoli to get out of the group.
The Serie A runners-up are even more used to Ancelotti’s methods a year on, and have shown their ambition at the start of this campaign, with an agonising defeat at champions Juventus sandwiched between wins over Fiorentina and Sampdoria. What concerns ahead of Liverpool’s visit is that Napoli are unabashedly devoted to attack – and even against lowly Samp on Saturday needed goalkeeper Alex Meret to bail them out. Klopp’s vaunted front three have plenty to work with here.
Liverpool to win and both teams to score at [4.2]
Navas is the real star for Paris Saint-Germain
Despite our editors pleading for this column to be a Neymar-free zone, the French champions’ number 10 simply won’t have it. His return to the fold against Strasbourg, finished off with a spectacular bicycle-kick winner and a round of booing from a sizeable number of fans at Parc des Princes, was maybe the most arresting sight of the weekend.
What needs to be emphasised, however, is that the scene for Neymar’s heroics was set up by a debutant. Keylor Navas made his PSG bow on the weekend that Alphonse Areola, turfed out to the Bernabéu as part of the deal, took to media outlets to make clear his disgust at how he was ousted.
Thomas Tuchel, the target of much of that criticism, will be pleased that Navas’ performance was such a big step towards putting to bed doubts over who should be between the sticks. The Costa Rican made a couple of great saves from Ludovic Ajorque to save his team from an embarrassing slip. Just the sort of steady presence that this team has craved, Navas has a swift reunion with his old team this week, and it would not be a surprise for him to show Zizou and friends just what they’re missing.
Rejuvenated Olympiacos aiming for Spurs shock
Tottenham get Champions League Wednesday underway with one of the two early games, and they go back into Europe with a target on their backs after their unexpected run to the final last season. We learned so much about Spurs on the way to Madrid, and about their adaptability and grit as they went on their run against the odds, but with greater respect comes a whole new status in the competition. They and Bayern Munich are overwhelming favourites to go through the group.
Enter Olympiacos who, along with Crvena Zvezda, wear the ‘difficult place to go to’ tag front and centre. To try and boil their threat down to just a hostile atmosphere (though that is a factor in Piraeus) is way too reductive. After being forced to slum it in the Europa League last season – only the second time in eight years they’ve missed out on the Champions League group stages – they will be shouting their return from the rooftops.
They look canny too under new coach Pedro Martins. With the guile of Mathieu Valbuena added in the centre of the park and goal threats like Youssef El-Arabi, Miguel Ángel Guerrero and Soudani they are not to be underestimated, as they proved by aceing two tricky qualifiers against Basaksehir and Krasnodar. They love to spring an upset at Karaiskakis – Atlético Madrid‘s first Champions League game after losing the 2014 final was here, and Diego Simeone’s team were beaten on a miserable debut for Jan Oblak.
Source: Betfair Champions League
