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Naples — Fernando Llorente warned he was looking for revenge on Liverpool in Napoli’s Champions League opener on Tuesday, after being beaten by the Reds in last season’s final with former club Tottenham.
The Spanish striker (34) signed a two-year deal with Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the summer after being released by Tottenham and is looking for some payback for Spurs’ defeat in Madrid.
“It was very painful to lose the final, there is a desire for revenge, yes, but it is especially the opportunity to show that we can be at the level of a team as strong as Liverpool,” Llorente told reporters in Naples.
Liverpool have reached the last two Champions League finals, beating Tottenham in the Spanish capital in June after losing to Real Madrid 12 months earlier.
But Jurgen Klopp’s side lost their opener last season 1-0 in Napoli thanks to a late Lorenzo Insigne winner, and Ancelotti said his side have learned from their mistakes last season, when they failed to advance from a tough group that also included Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
“The goal is to pass the group stage, we start against the European champions who are on full points in the Premier League, they are favourites and will be a difficult test, but very exciting.
“Liverpool have grown … but Napoli have also grown and have more quality.”
Three-time Champions League winning coach Ancelotti admitted that Liverpool was linked to some of his “biggest disappointments”, like the 1984 European Cup final lost as a player with Roma or the famous 2005 final in Istanbul as coach of AC Milan.
However, he also said that Liverpool were there for “some of my greatest joys, like the 2007 final (also won as Milan coach)”.
“Playing at Anfield is always a unique experience, and I hope that it will the same for us at the San Paolo,” the 60-year-old added.
“Last season they lost their three away matches but I think this time they will be more solid and careful away from home.”
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard said Chelsea’s transfer embargo did not force his hand to play young forward, Tammy Abraham, who has surged to the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts.
With Chelsea currently banned from bringing in new players, Lampard has relied heavily on Abraham and fellow youngsters Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori.
But the Blues boss said he always believed the time was right for Abraham, who had spells on loan with Bristol City, Swansea and Aston Villa, to be handed his chance with Chelsea this term.
Abraham (21) hit a hat-trick against Wolves on Saturday to take his Premier League tally to seven for the season, level with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.
“I never had clear expectations for him, only the fact that I believed in him and trusted in him,” Lampard told reporters yesterday.
“I know a lot has been made about the ban giving young players opportunities but I felt the time was right for Tammy to have his opportunity at this club anyway, because of the quality he has got.
I’m really delighted that he has got his goals. I think there’s even more to come.
“He’s in a good place, a place that just requires him to sustain and improve even more and I think with his mentality and the way he is every day I hope to see that.”
Abraham is set for his Champions League debut against Valencia at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, while for Lampard it will be a first match in the tournament as manager.
Lampard, who lifted the Champions League as a Chelsea player in 2012, said: “I’ll be proud to do it. I had multiple incredible nights in the Champions League – and some bad ones – and it is the ultimate in club football for me.”
Chelsea face a Valencia side in a certain amount of disarray with the players currently refusing to talk to the media in protest at last week’s sacking of popular manager Marcelino, despite winning the Copa del Rey and securing Champions League football last season.
Instead, former Real Madrid assistant Albert Celades will be in the Spanish club’s dug-out.
“I’m aware of what’s going on, but at the same time it doesn’t affect our approach,” said Lampard.
“We are going up against a quality team. But in my experience of moments like this, when there is an issue as collective, as a team, as a group against the media or the outside world, generally it makes the group tighter.
“Sometimes it can be a positive as much as a negative on the pitch.”
Lampard will be without defender Antonio Rudiger due to a groin injury, while N’Golo Kante and Callum Hudson-Odoi are not match fit.
Fixtures
Today: Lyon v Zenit St. Petersburg (Groupama Stadium 18:55), Inter Milan v Slavia Prague (San Siro 18:55), Ajax v Lille (Amsterdam ArenA 21:00), Benfica v RB Leipzig (da Luz 21:00), Red Bull Salzburg v Genk (Red Bull Arena 21:00), Napoli v Liverpool (San Paolo 21:00), Borussia Dortmund v Barcelona (Signal Iduna Park 21:00), Chelsea v Valencia (Stamford Bridge 21:00).
Wednesday: Club Brugge v Galatasaray (Jan Breydel Stadion 18:55), Olympiacos v Tottenham Hotspur (Karaiskakis Stadium 18:55), Bayern Munchen v Red Star Belgrade (Allianz Arena 21:00), Bayer Leverkusen v Lokomotiv Moscow (BayArena 21:00), Dinamo Zagreb v Atalanta (Maksimir Stadium 21:00), Shakhtar Donetsk v Manchester City (Metalist Stadium 21:00), Paris SG v Real Madrid (Parc des Princes 21:00), Atletico Madrid v Juventus (Wanda Metropolitano 21:00). — AFP.
Online Reporter