Liverpool deliver yet another big European night

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Though it always starts with fun and games, the final rounds of the UEFA Champions League can feel like a foregone conclusion.

Over the course of five match days, the wheat has been separated from the chaff and, as always, bolstered by the unassailable might of money the giants of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have qualified for the Round of 16 with ease, turning the dreams that BSC Young Boys, Viktoria Plzen and AEK Athens had of putting Swiss, Czech and Greek football on the map into nightmares along the way.

Thankfully, just as always, the sheer amount of combinations that eight groups of four teams guarantee one finale that has serious repercussions and this year it is Group C.

Going into Matchday 6, Napoli were in the lead with nine points, Paris Saint Germain (PSG) were in second with eight, then Liverpool with six and Red Star Belgrade on four.

What made this group even more interesting was a relative amount of parity in goal difference too: Three, five, one (and minus nine) respectively meant that any two of Napoli, Liverpool and PSG could go through, and even though Red Star were already eliminated, by drawing 0-0 with Napoli on Matchday 1 and beating Liverpool 2-0 on Matchday 4, they'd already proved twice that they could be a spoiler.

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool scores the lone goal of the UEFA Champions League Group C match between Liverpool and Napoli at Anfield in Liverpool, England, December 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

The outcome in Serbia could have no bearing on the fate of Liverpool, however. Unless they wanted to head to the hipster's favorite, the Europa League, they needed either a 1-0 win or two clear goals.

For most other teams this would be considered a significant feat, especially considering their unpredictable form in this year's contest. For the Redmen, who have done this and more against Olympiakos and Borussia Dortmund – and, of course, let's not forget what happened in Istanbul – this was just another big European night.

But you wouldn't have known that by the way the game started. Compared to Liverpool's previous game that saw PSG go hell for leather on the pitch and the fans turn the stands of the Parc Des Princes into a cauldron, all in the name of revenge, the Reds began in an even-tempered way that almost got exploited very early on as Napoli got into the Liverpool box and very nearly stole a lead.

This was quickly followed by a contender for miss of the season at the other end as Mo Salah, clear on goal, takes a touch too many for no particular reason and fumbles it right into the waiting grasp of keeper David Ospina.

As much of a star as he is for Liverpool, Salah hasn't been all that this season in comparison to the last.

In the modern game, in which seasons move fast and memories fade faster, some had started to consider Salah a one-season wonder – and then he started scoring again and things got worse.

He wasn't a one-season wonder, he was a big-time bottler; three goals as part of a 4-0 rout of Bournemouth is all well and good but scoring a hat-trick against a struggling mid-table side in between failing against PSG and Napoli is proof that he's seriously overrated.

As chances bounced back and forth at each end, and Salah didn't get much in the way of service, it felt as if his frustration was starting to spread to the rest of the squad.

This wasn't helped by a series of poor decisions by the referee, beginning with a clumsy follow-through by Virgil Van Dijk on Dries Mertens being treated like a severe slide tackle in the 13th minute. This threatened to replace the back-and-forth chances of the opening with back-and-forth fouls; just before half an hour, Ospina clattered into Sadio Mane and Nikola Maksimovic, conceding a free kick for his clumsiness.

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk reacts to a failed goal attempt against Napoli in their game at Anfield in Liverpool on the final day of the UEFA Champions League group stage, December 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

Yet only a few minutes later, both these narratives were cut short by Salah himself. Receiving the ball on the edge of the box, he turned, left Mario Rui confused, swerved past Kalidou Koulibaly and scored with a nutmeg on Ospina at an almost perfectly flat angle with the goal.

If his first attempt was a miss of the season, this is a contender for the opposite.

Going 1-0 calmed the game down and with the exception of a tearful Napoli fan – whom the television director seemed to particularly enjoy cutting back to in the crow – and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp sprinting into the dressing room as soon as the whistle went, the remainder of the first half was subdued.

It was only with hindsight from late on in the second half that it became clear this was a new set of narratives, none of which was good.

Liverpool's Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker (R) saves a shot from Napoli's Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik (L) during the UEFA Champions League group C match between Liverpool and SSC Napoli at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, December 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

With the exception of the aforementioned opening flurry, Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli were barely a factor in this game. With a classic 4-4-2 designed to allow a midfielder to burst through when necessary, and kept that way throughout, they were set up to be an attacking team and at 1-0 down they had to be.

Instead, Liverpool found that the longer they played, the easier the Italian runners-up were to run through, figuratively and literally. The questions about Liverpool following their 4-0 win were now being asked of Napoli, who had an emphatic victory of the same scoreline against the Serie A minnows of Frosinone in their previous game too.

Until the 70th minute, they were totally out of it as Van Dijk, Salah and captain James Milner – players rarely commented on for their strength – battered their defense. Only Koulibaly did anything to try and slow Liverpool down and, thankfully for the Italians, it was enough; Mane was offside, Roberto Firmino headed it into the hand of the keeper and Trent Alexander-Arnold's shot lost all its momentum after two deflections.

Having used all Napoli's subs in quick succession to create a brand new left flank, Ancelotti's men began doing what they needed to at least half an hour earlier, and with Liverpool out if they conceded just one, things got tense at Anfield.

The tension became unbearable and snapped when four minutes of extra time was announced. Napoli went into overdrive and had easily their two most threatening attempts back to back at 90+2.

Liverpool would have died of heartbreak were it not for superstar keeper Alisson Becker.

Liverpool held on and qualified for the Round of 19, which kicks off early next year, by the skin of their teeth.

It was difficult, and they had to fight for it, and they know it will get harder but Klopp and his team wouldn't have had it any other way.

This is what the Champions League is all about.