In his anniversary game in the Champions League, Jürgen Klopp is recovering from the crisis in the domestic Premier League. Liverpool beat the high-flyers from SSC Napoli. Barcelona say goodbye with a spectacle in Pilsen and Atlético suffer a debacle.
His 100th appearance in the premier class, the 400th game as a Liverpool coach - and a win against the high-flyers of SSC Napoli: Jürgen Klopp was really satisfied after the "reaction" of the ailing Reds. "It was a really good game from us. A lot of courage and bravery. Face the challenges and make a fight out of it," said Klopp after the 2-0 (0-0) win over the Italians, who had previously won 13 competitive games in a row . Even if it was no longer enough for first place in the group stage, Klopp did well the evening in Anfield after his team had stumbled badly in the Premier League.
With the two brands that he had set up personally, Klopp could not do that much. "I don't count the games. In football the numbers you had are not that important. More important are the numbers you have in the future. Let's go for the next 100 because that would mean we play a lot." , Klopp emphasized, knowing full well that participation in the Champions League next season is in danger due to the weak phase in the league. In his 100 premier class games, Klopp has 58 wins, only Pep Guardiola was even better with 61 wins. And only Tom Watson, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley managed 400 games as Liverpool coach.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez will not celebrate another win in the premier class this season. After all, Europa League relegated FC Barcelona said goodbye to the Champions League with an away win. Even without former Bayern star striker Robert Lewandowski and national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen (both rested), the Catalans won 4-2 (2-0) at Viktoria Pilsen. Marcos Alonso (6th), Ferran Torres (44th/54th) and starting XI debutant Pablo Torre (75th) scored for Barca, Tomas Chory (52nd, penalty kick/63rd) for the Czechs. The Spanish top club had previously lost their chances of progressing in Group C with German record champions Bayern Munich.
In the parallel game in Liverpool Group A, Ajax Amsterdam defended third place as expected with a 3-1 (2-0) win at Glasgow Rangers. Steven Berghuis (4th), Mohammed Kudus (29th) and Francisco Conceicao (89th) secured the away win, Glasgow defender James Tavernier (86th) scored the goal from the penalty spot.
Tottenham Hotspur secured first place ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to a last-minute goal in the dramatic finish of Group D. The top English club won 2-1 (0-1) at Olympique Marseille and knocked the French out of international business. Chancel Mbemba (45.2) gave Marseille the lead, Clement Lenglet (54.) and ex-Munich player Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (90.5) turned the game around. Sporting Lisbon remained in the Europa League after the 1-2 defeat against Eintracht.
FC Porto secured victory in Group B early in the evening with a 2-1 (2-0) win over Atlético Madrid. At the same time, the Portuguese champions helped Bayer Leverkusen into the Europa League. A 0-0 draw against FC Bruges, who qualified for the Champions League round of 16, was enough for the Bundesliga side. For the Spanish top team Atlético, however, the path in Europe ended with the last place in the group and elimination from all European competitions. What a debacle.
(This article was first published on Wednesday, November 02, 2022.)
