Liverpool suffered their joint worst Champions League defeat; Napoli scored three-first half goals without reply; Giovanni Simeone netted on his Champions League debut, 25 years and 361 days after his father Diego Simeone also scored in his competition now. Victor Osimhen set the precedents early on, hitting the post inside the opening 60 seconds before James Milner conceded a fifth-minute penalty, which Piotr Zielinski kept his cool to convert.

Liverpool, stunned into submission, then presented Osimhen with his own chance to test Alisson from 12 yards after an ill-timed challenge from Virgil van Dijk was penalised by VAR review.

Alisson denied the Napoli striker’s spot-kick attempt, but Liverpool’s reprieve only lasted 13 minutes. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia outmuscled Joe Gomez, who endured a torrid 45 minutes before being hauled off, before allowing Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa to slot the ball low past Liverpool’s helpless ‘keeper.

Things went from bad to worse shortly before the interval as substitute Giovanni Simeone on in place of the injured Osimhen turned home a low cross from Kvaratskhelia. Zielinski rounded off the scoring for Luciano Spalletti’s new-look side two minutes into the second period to compound Liverpool’s misery, before Luis Diaz netted a well-taken consolation strike.