Champions League 2022/23: How the well-prepared Napoli took advantage of Liverpool’s lack of compactness – tactical analysis

The opening round of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League offered many surprising results. Some of the teams demonstrated maturity and growth, while others left many questions unanswered with poor performances.

Napoli were one of the positive surprises this week, showing confidence and strong tactical preparation to secure a 4-1 win over Jürgen Klopp’s struggling Liverpool. The Merseyside club didn’t have the dreamt start of the Premier League season, earning only nine points from six games. They were hoping to have a fresh start in the CL to boost their confidence and give them the needed push in the league as well. However, it all ended up in a disappointing European football night.

Luciano Spalletti demonstrated great tactical intelligence against one of the most aggressive teams in possession, while his players not only executed his game plan well as a collective but surprised with individual skill as well.

Some of the new additions to the team proved that they have adjusted quickly, while Liverpool’s players looked exhausted and lacked creativity against the motivated Napoli team.

In this tactical analysis, we examine how Napoli managed to tame their opponents and what went wrong in Klopp’s tactics to get this disappointing result.

Lineups and individual impact  

Alex Meret started on the goal and had a crucial role for Napoli conceding only once, making six saves and having a huge impact with his involvements. Mathías Olivera played on the left, while Giovanni Di Lorenzo covered the right full-back spot.

The central duo were key to the team’s positive result. The new addition Min-Jae Kim, who has been one of their best performers since the start of the season, impacted the game both in and out of possession and his partnership with Amir Rrahmani kept the box well-covered and made it difficult for Liverpool’s attackers to make positional interchanges and exploit quality areas.

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