At dawn on Wednesday (2), the highlight of UEFA Group A was staged at Liverpool's home ground against Napoli, a showdown that was of great significance to Reds leader Jurgen Klopp. It was the German manager's 100th UEFA Europa League match and his 400th game in charge of Liverpool. The players put in a great performance, with Mohamed Salah and Davin Kuyt scoring a goal each to seal a 2-0 win over Napoli and give Klopp a victory gift for his milestone match.
With both teams locked out of the tournament ahead of the match, the game became crucial in the battle for the top spot in the group. The deadlock was broken in the 85th minute of the match when Mohamed Salah crashed in a clever goal from inside the box. In stoppage time, Davin Kuyt headed home to seal the final score at 2-0.
Although Liverpool won the match to equal Napoli's points tally, the Reds were at a disadvantage in their head-to-head results as they lost the first leg of their meeting 1-4, and could only advance to the second place in the group, which means that they will face non-Premier League toppers in the other groups in the round of 16, and could meet tough opponents such as Bayern Munich.
It's worth noting that Klopp became the seventh coach in UEFA history to lead his team to 100 games, winning 58 in that time, second only to Pep Guardiola, who has 61 victories, in terms of 100 games played.
In addition, Klopp became the fourth leader in Liverpool's history to lead his team to 400 games, with 243 victories in that time, the highest winning percentage of any coach in the Reds' history to lead his team to 400 games.
In the other match in the same group, Ajax beat Rangers 3-1 away from home to advance to the Europa League as the third-placed team in the group.
