Napoli boss blames referee after Champions League exit

Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti bemoaned the lack of VAR having saying the referee should have sent out Virgil van Dijk for his rash challenge in the first half on the Naples forward, Dries Mertens in Liverpool’s qualification-clinching win at Anfield on Tuesday night.

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Netherlands captain Van Dijk was booked in the 13th minute of the Reds’ 1-0 victory when his studs caught Mertens’ ankle after he swept the ball away in a slide tackle. Van Dijk claimed he had won the ball cleanly but Ancelotti argued he was fortunate to remain on the pitch. “I’ve seen it on the video, I think it was a red card. There were a lot of questions about VAR. When VAR comes in to the Champions League, it’s too late,” the Italian said.

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Mohamed Salah’s first-half goal sent Liverpool through at the expense of Napoli, who had to settle for a place in the Europa League despite accruing nine points in their Champions League group. A draw on Tuesday would have been enough to seal Champions League progression for Napoli, who beat Liverpool in the return fixture, but Arkadiusz Milik was denied a late leveller as Alisson stood up tall to deny him from close range.

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“We knew that Liverpool would put us under a lot more pressure, they were very aggressive. It was something we planned for, we knew the intensity was going to be a lot different from the first game we played. That was something we had to try and cope with. You can’t expect to come to a place like Liverpool and expect to create 10 really good chances, we created one or two and didn’t have the luck that we needed,” added Ancelotti.

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