It is just over three months since the Reds suffered a 1-0 final defeat by Real Madrid on a night marred by chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France. Liverpool have been drawn alongside Ajax, Rangers and Napoli this time around and take their Group A action to the cavernous Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Wednesday night against the latter. But Klopp has not enjoyed the best of times on his previous visits to Napoli, losing 2-1 to Borussia Dortmund in 2013 before losing 1-0 to the Reds in 2018 and 2-0 the following year. “I’ve never won here,” the German said of his three previous visits to the Champions League group stage. “Not with Liverpool. Not with Dortmund. “But we have often qualified for another final after Napoli were with us in the group stage. Not sure all the time… but who cares. “I am, as we say in Germany, a latecomer. I always need a little more time to achieve my things. That means sometimes I have to try twice, sometimes three times, sometimes four times and Napoli obviously four times. “What do we have to do? Play better than the previous three games? That would be very useful because we didn’t play particularly well when we came here. Another reason Napoli are quite strong.” Klopp heads to Italy with several key players missing from his 21-man traveling party. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is among those ruled out, but Thiago Alcantara could make his first appearance since suffering a hamstring strain a month ago. “Thiago is back in training,” Klopp said. “Second day today. It means he is ready. For how long we’ll see. “Hendo, we’ve had the scan results and it will be after the international break, I think he’ll be back.” Injuries have left the Reds particularly thin in midfield, which led to Arthur’s signing from Juventus on deadline day. The 26-year-old has not played a competitive game since being substituted in May’s Coppa Italia final and could make his bow in Napoli. “Arthur just needs football now, especially training, that’s right,” Klopp said. “He hasn’t been in team training for a while at Juve, so he needs proper team training and that’s what we’re doing with him. “Can he play minutes? Yes. Should he play a full game? No, because he has to get used to the intensity in every match. “It’s not like the Champions League is like you have to work less than the Premier League. Not at all and especially not here. “But he’s doing well, he’s really giving it his all in training. We have to be careful with him too and then we’ll see when we can use him.” Arthur has something to prove after a disappointing spell at Juventus and Brazilian team-mate Alisson Becker is excited about what he can offer the Anfield club. “Everything happened so quickly that I only spoke to him the day he was coming to Liverpool and then at the training ground,” said the former Roma goalkeeper. “He’s an amazing guy. We’ll see more of him when you see him on the field. He is a fantastic player. “I’m looking forward to him being really fit and settled as soon as possible. “We know that it is not easy to change from country to country. I made the same move as him, coming from Italian football. I know there are some differences but in the end football is the same. “With his qualities and his attitude and his desire he can overcome any of these little problems. I really think he can bring a lot of quality to the team and will do well.
