UEFA Champions League - 2019/20 SeasonMatch press kits

Liverpool kick off their defence of the UEFA Champions League against a team who came perilously close to ousting them from last season's competition as they travel to Italy to take on Napoli.

• The teams were paired together in last season's group stage and both games featured late drama; indeed, only a vital late save from Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker on matchday six prevented Napoli progressing to the round of 16 at the expense of the English side.

• While this is Napoli's fourth successive UEFA Champions League campaign, Liverpool are in the competition for the third year in a row having reached the final in 2018 and lifted the trophy 12 months later.

Previous meetings
• Each side recorded a 1-0 home win in last season's group stage, Lorenzo Insigne getting Napoli's 90th-minute winner at the Stadio San Paolo on matchday two. Mohamed Salah was the Liverpool match-winner at Anfield on matchday six, his 34th-minute strike proving enough to take Jürgen Klopp's side into the knockout stages at the expense of their Italian opponents – although but for a last-gasp Alisson save to deny Arkadiusz Milik, Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli would have progressed instead.

• The clubs also met in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage. With the game in Naples having ended scoreless, Ezequiel Lavezzi gave Napoli a first-half lead at Anfield before Steven Gerrard's hat-trick in the final 15 minutes, including goals in the 88th and 89th minutes, secured a dramatic late win for Liverpool.  The Reds went on to finish top of their section, with Napoli second; the Italian club were eliminated in the round of 32, Liverpool losing in the last 16.

Form guide
Napoli
• Serie A runners-up for the second season running in 2018/19, Napoli are in the group stage for the sixth time – all in the last nine seasons. They reached the round of 16 in 2011/12 and 2016/17 but have finished third in their section in the other three campaigns.

• The Partenopei picked up seven of their nine points in last season's group stage in Naples. Napoli have, however, won only four of their last nine home games in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final; they have lost three in that sequence.

• Napoli have won only four of their last 12 UEFA Champions League matches (D3 L5) – all those victories coming at the Stadio San Paolo.

• Having finished third behind Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool in last season's group stage, Napoli kicked off their UEFA Europa League campaign with a comfortable 5-1 aggregate win against Zürich before edging out Salzburg 4-3 over two legs in the round of 16. They were then eliminated from a second European competition of the season by an English club, however, losing 2-0 away to Arsenal and 1-0 at home in the quarter-finals.

• Napoli have therefore lost their last three matches against Premier League clubs, home and away, and five of the last six. At home, they have been beaten in two of the last three games against English visitors, although their record in Naples overall is W5 D1 L2.

Liverpool
• Premier League runners-up in 2018/19, finishing a single point behind Manchester City, Liverpool are in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 12th time; they have only failed to progress to the last 16 or further three times.

• Klopp's team lost all three away games in last season's group stage, but were rescued by three wins at Anfield as they edged out Napoli on goal difference. They then beat Bayern München 3-1 away in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, going through by the same aggregate score, before ousting Porto 6-1 over two legs in the quarter-finals (2-0 h, 4-1 a). The journey looked to be over when the Reds went down 3-0 at Barcelona in the semi-final first leg, but two goals apiece from Georginio Wijnaldum and Divock Origi sealed a rousing second-leg turnaround, before Salah and Origi secured the club's sixth European Cup with a 2-0 final defeat of Tottenham in Madrid.

• Liverpool's record in last season's UEFA Champions League was W8 D1 L4 F24 A12. They have won five of their last seven European fixtures (D1 L1) but have lost six of their last ten UEFA competition matches outside England.

• Klopp's side have lost their last two matches in Italy but have been beaten in only three of their last nine away games against Italian clubs, winning three.

• Liverpool have already claimed European silverware this term, beating Chelsea 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul.

Links and trivia
• Ancelotti was Chelsea manager between 2009 and 2011, winning the Premier League and the FA Cup in 2010.

• Klopp's Borussia Dortmund side were beaten 2-1 at Napoli on matchday one of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League; the German club won the reverse fixture 3-1 and went on to the round of 16 alongside Arsenal, Napoli missing out as all three teams finished on 12 points.

• Salah played in Serie A for Fiorentina (2015) and Roma (2015–17), scoring for the latter in a 3-1 win at the Stadio San Paolo in October 2016.

• Have also played in Italy:
Alisson Becker (Roma 2016–18)
Xherdan Shaqiri (Inter 2015)

• Have played in England:
David Ospina (Arsenal 2014–18)
Fernando Llorente (Swansea 2016/17, Tottenham 2017–19)

• Llorente was an 81st-minute substitute in Spurs' defeat by Liverpool in last season's final, having scored the decisive goal of the quarter-final against Manchester City.

• Have played together:
Kostas Manolas & Mohamed Salah (Roma 2015–17)
Kostas Manolas & Alisson Becker (2016–18)
Kalidou Koulibaly & Sadio Mané (Metz 2011/12)
Dries Mertens & Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV Eindhoven 2011–13)
José Callejón & Fabinho (Real Madrid 2012/13)

• International team-mates:
Dries Mertens & Divock Origi (Belgium)
Kalidou Koulibaly & Sadio Mané (Senegal)

Latest news

Napoli
• Summer transfers
In: Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Empoli), David Ospina (Arsenal), Kostas Manolas (Roma), Eljif Elmas (Fenerbahçe), Hirving Lozano (PSV), Fernando Llorente (free agent)
Out: Roberto Insigne (Benevento), Amadou Diawara (Roma), Raúl Albiol (Villarreal), Carlos Vinícius (Benfica), Marko Rog (Cagliari, loan), Gennaro Tutino (Hellas Verona, loan), Adam Ounas (Nice, loan), Vlad Chiricheș (Sassuolo, loan), Simone Verdi (Torino, loan)

• Napoli's first home game of the season ended in a 2-0 defeat of Sampdoria on Saturday evening, Dries Mertens scoring both goals – the Belgian's first double since a 3-1 UEFA Champions League win against Crvena zvezda on 28 November 2018.

• Mertens has scored in Napoli's last six home games in Serie A.

• Napoli started the Serie A season with two away games due to ongoing renovation at the Stadio San Paolo. Both matches finished 4-3, a victory at Fiorentina in which Lorenzo Insigne scored twice and defeat at Juventus, Kalidou Koulibaly with an added-time own goal after the Partenopei had managed to recover from 3-0 down in Turin.

• All three of Napoli's goals at Juve were scored by summer signings: Manolas, Lozano and Di Lorenzo.

• Elseid Hysaj was on target in Albania's 4-2 win against Iceland on 10 September.

• Insigne missed Italy's UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying games against Armenia and Finland due to a thigh injury; he returned as a late substitute against Sampdoria.

• A thigh injury also kept Arkadiusz Milik out of Poland's internationals, the striker having suffered the problem ahead of the game at Juventus. He also missed the Sampdoria match.

Liverpool
• Summer transfers
In: Harvey Elliott (Fulham), Sepp van den Berg (Zwolle), Adrián (West Ham)
Out: Daniel Sturridge (Trabzonspor), Alberto Moreno (Villarreal), Ádám Bogdán (released), Danny Ings (Southampton), Sheyi Ojo (Rangers, loan), Rafael Camacho (Sporting CP), Marko Grujić (Hertha Berlin, loan), Ben Woodburn (Oxford United, loan), Simon Mignolet (Club Brugge), Harry Wilson (Bournemouth, loan), Taiwo Awoniyi (Mainz), Ovie Ejaria (Reading, loan), Bobby Duncan (Fiorentina), Ryan Kent (Rangers)

• Virgil van Dijk was named UEFA Men's Player of the Year for 2018/19 in Monaco on 29 August; the Dutchman also collected the Defender of the Season award, with Alisson Becker taking the Goalkeeper's prize.

• James Milner's next appearance in UEFA club competition will be his 100th.

• Xherdan Shaqiri has played in 49 matches in UEFA club competition.

• The Reds kicked off the season by losing 5-4 on penalties to English champions Manchester City after a 1-1 draw in the FA Community Shield at Wembley on 4 August.

• Liverpool did come out on top on spot kicks against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup on 14 August, prevailing 5-4 after a 2-2 draw in Istanbul.

• The Merseyside club are the only team with maximum points after five games of the new Premier League season. They came from behind to beat Newcastle 3-1 at Anfield on Saturday and are five points clear of Manchester City.

• Liverpool have won their last 14 Premier League matches, and are unbeaten in 22 league fixtures (W18 D4), since a 2-1 loss at Manchester City on 3 January.

• Liverpool are the first team in the history of the English top flight to win 14 successive matches and score more than once in each win.

• The Reds also won their first five league matches in 2018/19, and are only the third team to do so in successive seasons in the Premier League era after Chelsea (2009/10, 2010/11) and Manchester City (2015/16, 2016/17).

• Georginio Wijnaldum scored in both the Netherlands' 4-2 UEFA EURO 2020 win in Germany on 6 September and the 4-0 success in Estonia three days later.

• Dejan Lovren's goal helped Croatia to a 4-0 defeat of Slovakia on 6 September.

• Alisson has been out since suffering a calf injury in Liverpool's 4-1 home win against Norwich on the first day of the Premier League season on 9 August.

• Naby Keïta has been sidelined with a groin problem picked up in the Community Shield on 4 August.

• Divock Origi was replaced in the 37th minute against Newcastle having suffered an ankle injury.

Date of birth: 10 June 1959
Nationality: Italian
Playing career: Parma, Roma, AC Milan
Coaching career: Reggiana, Parma, Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Bayern München, Napoli

• One of only seven people to have lifted the European Champion Clubs' Cup as both a player and coach and the second manager, after Bob Paisley, to win the trophy three times. A combative midfielder, Ancelotti helped Roma win the 1983 Serie A title and four Italian Cups before joining Milan in 1986 where he added two more league championships, as well as back-to-back European Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990.

• Began coaching in 1995 with a year at Reggiana, earning them promotion from Serie B, before two seasons at Parma. Replaced Marcello Lippi at Juventus in February 1999 and returned to San Siro as coach of Milan in 2001. During eight seasons in charge, won the UEFA Champions League in 2003 and 2007, but lost the 2005 final on penalties to Liverpool after leading 3-0. Milan also won a Serie A title, a Coppa Italia and the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.

• Resigned on 31 May 2009 and was named as Chelsea's new manager the following day. His first season in London ended with the club winning the league and cup double for the first time. Dismissed at the end of his second campaign, Ancelotti took charge of Paris in December 2011, steering the club to a first league title in 19 years in 2012/13, his sole full season in charge.

• Left to take over at Madrid, winning the Copa del Rey and the club's tenth European Cup in his first season and becoming only the fifth coach to win the trophy with two clubs in the process. Madrid then added the UEFA Super Cup, the fourth time Ancelotti had won that trophy as player or coach, before his dismissal at the end of 2014/15.

• That December he agreed to join Bayern, taking the reins in summer 2016 and winning the Bundesliga in his debut campaign, when he also became the first man to coach seven clubs in the UEFA Champions League. Dismissed in September 2017, Ancelotti returned to Italy to take over at Napoli the following year, his club finishing second in Serie A in his first season.

Date of birth: 16 June 1967
Nationality: German
Playing career: Glatten, Ergenzingen, Pforzheim, Eintracht Frankfurt, Viktoria Sindlingen, Rot-Weiss Frankfurt, Mainz
Coaching career: Mainz, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool

• Having spent his early career in the lower leagues and failed to break into Eintracht's first team, Klopp turned professional with Mainz, starting off as a striker before becoming a no-nonsense defender. Never played in the top flight but made 325 second-division appearances from 1990 to 2001, setting a club record by scoring 52 goals.

• 'Kloppo' was appointed Mainz's caretaker coach on 28 February 2001, helping the club avoid relegation to the third tier. Duly won a permanent contract and built Mainz into one of the strongest clubs in the 2. Bundesliga; narrowly missed out on promotion in 2002 and 2003 before taking Mainz into the top flight for the first time in 2004 and kept them there until 2007, taking them into the 2005/06 UEFA Cup via the UEFA Fair Play ranking.

• After another promotion near-miss in 2007/08 Klopp left for Dortmund. Took them to sixth in his first season, led them into the UEFA Europa League the next year and then, with a squad full of exciting young talent, oversaw league title wins in 2010/11 and 2011/12, adding the German Cup in the latter campaign with a 5-2 final victory against Bayern München.

• Earned even greater admiration in 2012/13 as he steered Dortmund all the way to the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley, where they lost to Bayern. Dortmund reached more domestic cup finals in 2014 and 2015, losing to Bayern and Wolfsburg respectively, Klopp departing after the latter defeat.

• Succeeded Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager in October 2015 and reached the finals of the English League Cup and UEFA Europa League – helped by a quarter-final defeat of Dortmund – in his first season. Lost both, and there was more final disappointment in 2017/18, which ended in UEFA Champions League defeat by Real Madrid in Kyiv. Although Liverpool lost out to Manchester City in the 2018/19 Premier League, finishing second despite collecting 97 points and losing only once, solace came with victory against Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid. The Reds kicked off the following season by claiming the UEFA Super Cup on penalties at Chelsea's expense.

UEFA Champions League: Did you know?

Overall records
• In 2012/13, Chelsea became the first defending champions to fail to get through a group stage since the UEFA Champions League began. (This record, like the others, includes the seasons between 1999/2000 and 2002/03 that featured a second group stage). In 1992/93, Barcelona were the reigning European Champion Clubs' Cup holders and lost 4-3 on aggregate in the second round to CSKA Moskva.

• In 2016/17 Real Madrid became the first team to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League trophy, with AC Milan (1989, 1990) the previous club to win consecutive European Cups. Milan (1994, 1995), Ajax (1995, 1996), Juventus (1996, 1997) and Manchester United (2008, 2009) have all returned to the UEFA Champions League final as holders only to lose.

• Real Madrid then made it three wins in a row in 2017/18, becoming the fourth club to win three or more successive titles in European Cup history, and the first to do it twice.

• Only two teams have ever won the UEFA Champions League on home soil: Borussia Dortmund (1997, final in Munich) and Juventus (1996, final in Rome), while Manchester United lost the 2011 final in London and 12 months later Bayern were beaten in the showpiece in their own stadium, the Fußball Arena München.

Group stage
• Barcelona have finished as group winners on 20 occasions, four more than Real Madrid and five more than Bayern München and Manchester United. Barça also hold the record for the most unbeaten group stage campaigns with 12, four more than Real Madrid.

• Bayern München (2 April 2013 to 27 November 2013) and Real Madrid (23 April 2014 to 18 February 2015) jointly hold the record for successive wins in the UEFA Champions League proper with ten. Bayern surpassed the previous mark of nine, set by Barcelona between 18 September 2002 and 18 February 2003.

• Six teams have recorded six successive victories in a UEFA Champions League group stage: Milan (1992/93), Paris Saint-Germain (1994/95), Spartak Moskva (1995/96), Barcelona (2002/03, first group stage) and Real Madrid (2011/12 and 2014/15).

• Twenty-one teams have gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without picking up a single point, most recently AEK Athens in 2018/19.

• In 2017/18, Paris Saint-Germain set a new group stage record by scoring 25 goals, with Liverpool (23) also eclipsing the old mark of 21 set by Borussia Dortmund in 2016/17. Manchester United (1998/99), Barcelona (2011/12, 2016/17) and Real Madrid (2013/14) all managed 20.

• Only Deportivo La Coruña (2004/05), Maccabi Haifa (2009/10) and Dinamo Zagreb (2016/17) have failed to score in a group stage.

• BATE Borisov conceded 24 goals in 2014/15, a new group stage record which was matched by Legia Warszawa in 2016/17. The previous mark, 22, was held by Dinamo Zagreb (2011/12) and Nordsjælland (2012/13); Malmö shipped 21 in 2015/16.

• No team has ever gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without conceding a goal. Milan (1992/93), Ajax (1995/96), Juventus (1996/97 and 2004/05), Chelsea (2005/06), Liverpool (2005/06), Villarreal (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11), Monaco (2014/15), Paris Saint-Germain (2015/16) and Barcelona (2017/18) all let in just one.

• Matchday six of the 2013/14 marked FCSB's 23rd successive game in the competition without a victory, surpassing the previous record of 22 set by Spartak Moskva between December 2000 and November 2006.

• Anderlecht hold the unwanted record for successive defeats in the competition, group stage to final, having lost 12 in a row between December 2003 and November 2005. Dinamo Zagreb are next with 11 consecutive losses on two occasions, from September 2011 to November 2012 and ongoing since September 2015.

• The lowest total for a team qualifying from the group stage is six points: Zenit in 2013/14 and Roma in 2015/16. Since three points for a win was introduced in 1995/96, nine teams have made it through with seven points: Legia Warszawa (1995/96), Dynamo Kyiv (1999/2000), Liverpool (2001/02, second group stage), in 2002/03 Lokomotiv Moskva (first group stage) and eventual finalists Juventus (second group stage), Rangers and Werder Bremen (2005/06), Galatasaray (2013/14) and Basel (2014/15).

• Napoli failed to qualify from their group with 12 points in 2013/14, the highest total of any team not to reach the next stage when the top two in each section progressed. Dynamo Kyiv (1999/2000, second group stage), Borussia Dortmund (2002/03, second group stage), PSV Eindhoven (2003/04), Olympiacos and Dynamo Kyiv (both 2004/05), Werder Bremen (2006/07), Manchester City (2011/12), Chelsea and Cluj (both 2012/13), Benfica (2013/14) and Porto (2015/16) all missed out with ten points.

Goalscoring records
• Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a match in Barcelona's 7-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen on 7 March 2012, a feat matched by Shakhtar Donetsk's Luiz Adriano at BATE Borisov on 21 October 2014. Eleven more players, also including Messi, have scored four times in a game, most recently Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid on matchday six in 2015/16.

• Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for a UEFA Champions League group stage with 11 goals in 2015/16, eclipsing his own mark of nine in 2013/14, which Luiz Adriano matched in 2014/15 and Ronaldo himself equalled in 2017/18. Lionel Messi got ten goals in 2016/17; Zlatan Ibrahimović (2013/14), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2004/05), Filippo Inzaghi, Hernán Crespo (both 2002/03) and Robert Lewandowski (2018/19) managed eight.

• Messi's hat-trick against PSV Eindhoven on matchday one of the 2018/19 competition was his eighth in the competition, a mark Ronaldo matched against Atlético Madrid in that season's round of 16 second leg.

Oldest and youngest players
• Lazio goalkeeper Marco Ballotta is the oldest player to compete in the UEFA Champions League having featured against Real Madrid on matchday six in 2007/08 aged 43 years and 252 days. Alessandro Costacurta is the oldest outfield player; the Milan defender was 40 years and 211 days when he played against AEK Athens in 2006/07.

• Francesco Totti is the oldest player to score in the competition, aged 38 years and 59 days, in Roma's 1-1 draw at CSKA Moskva on 25 November 2014. Ryan Giggs (37 years 290 days) was the previous record holder.

• Celestine Babayaro is the youngest player to have appeared; he was 16 years and 87 days when he started for Anderlecht against Steaua Bucureşti on 23 November 1994. He was sent off in the 37th minute.

• Peter Ofori-Quaye is the youngest player to have scored in the UEFA Champions League, aged 17 years and 195 days. He found the net in Olympiacos's 5-1 defeat at Rosenborg on 1 October 1997.

SSC Napoli
Formed: 1926
Nickname: Partenopei (a reference to Parthenope, one of the Sirens of Greek mythology)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• UEFA Cup (1): 1989

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 2 (1990)
Italian Cup: 5 (2014)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2018/19: UEFA Europa League quarter-finals (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2017/18: UEFA Europa League round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2016/17: round of 16
2015/16: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2014/15: UEFA Europa League semi-finals (having transferred from UEFA Champions League play-offs)
2013/14: UEFA Europa League round of 16 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2012/13: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2011/12: round of 16
2010/11: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2009/10: did not take part in UEFA club competition

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
5-0 three times, most recently v Midtjylland
05/11/15, UEFA Europa League group stage

• Biggest away win
1-5: Valencia v Napoli
16/09/92, UEFA Cup first round first leg
0-4: Trabzonspor v Napoli
19/02/15, UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg

• Heaviest home defeat
0-3: Napoli v Viktoria Plzeň
14/02/13, UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg

• Heaviest away defeat
5-1: Werder Bremen v Napoli
06/12/89, UEFA Cup third round second leg

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final)
• Biggest home win
3-0: Napoli v Shakhtar Donetsk
21/11/17, group stage

• Biggest away win
0-2: Villarreal v Napoli
07/12/11, group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
2-4: Napoli v Manchester City
01/11/17, group stage
1-3: Napoli v Real Madrid
07/03/17, round of 16 second leg

• Heaviest away defeat
4-1: Chelsea v Napoli (aet)
14/03/12, round of 16 second leg

Liverpool FC
Formed: 1892
Nickname: The Reds

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Champion Clubs' Cup (6): 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, (1985), 2005, (2007), (2018), 2019
• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League (3): 1973, 1976, 2001, (2016)
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: (1966)
• UEFA Super Cup (4): 1977, (1978), (1984), 2001, 2005, 2019
• European/South American Cup: (1981), (1984)

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 18 (1990)
FA Cup: 7 (2006)
League Cup: 8 (2012)

Ten-year European record (UEFA Champions League unless indicated otherwise)
2018/19: winners
2017/18: runners-up
2016/17: did not take part in UEFA competition
2015/16: UEFA Europa League runners-up
2014/15: UEFA Europa League round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)
2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition
2012/13: UEFA Europa League round of 32
2011/12: did not take part in UEFA competition
2010/11: UEFA Europa League round of 16
2009/10: UEFA Europa League semi-finals (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage)

Records
UEFA club competition
• Biggest home win
11-0: Liverpool v Strømgodset
17/09/74, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round first leg

• Biggest away win
0-7: Maribor v Liverpool
17/10/17, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest home defeat
0-3: Liverpool v Real Madrid
22/10/14, UEFA Champions League group stage

• Heaviest away defeat
5-1: Ajax v Liverpool
07/12/66, European Champion Clubs' Cup second round first leg

UEFA Champions League (group stage to final only)
• Biggest home win
8-0: Liverpool v Beşiktaş
06/11/07, group stage

• Biggest away win
0-7: Maribor v Liverpool (see above)

• Heaviest home defeat
0-3: Liverpool v Real Madrid (see above)

• Heaviest away defeat
3-0: Barcelona v Liverpool
01/05/19, semi-final first leg