Jurgen Klopp warns his players against complacency after emphatic pre-season win against Napoli

Liverpool beat Napoli 5-0 in a pre-season match in Dublin and meet in the Champions League

Jurgen Klopp has warned against complacency (Getty)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has told his players to ”ignore” their pre-season result against Napoli ahead of their Champions League group meeting on Wednesday.

Liverpool began their Champions League group with a spirited win against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield and face another tough test at Napoli’s Stadio San Paolo stadium.

The two sides met in Dublin in July and Liverpool beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side 5-0 in their penultimate pre-season friendly, but Klopp says is making sure his side are not complacent by silencing talk of August’s meeting.

“It was a pre-season friendly and nothing else,” said Klopp. “(It was) in Dublin, surrounded by Liverpool fans and we scored with each shot and Napoli had a lot of chances but didn’t score.

“That’s not important and we didn​’t talk about that game for one second so far. I will tell the boys to ignore it because it has nothing to do with the preparation. Last year in the pre-season we beat Barcelona 4-0 and the next game we lost at Meinx. It’s pre-season, that’s all.”

In the opposite dugout, Ancelotti, who won the Champions League twice as a manager at AC Milan and once with Real Madird, is taking a different approach to the match two months ago and says his side will use it to learn how to better prepare to face Liverpool.

“The Dublin match is an experience, it has taught us many things, for example how not to play against Liverpool,” the Italian manager said. “It was a friendly match, we did not want to focus on the opponent.

“The test will be very difficult, we will not have much time to think about what to do on the pitch, but we have a lot of confidence for tomorrow’s match and we will do it.”

Liverpool were comfortable winners when these sides met in August (Getty)

In Tuesday’s press conference, Klopp dodged a question about the relationship between managers and players in the wake of his animated conversation with Xherdan Shaqiri, and Mohamed Salah’s reaction to being brought off in Liverpool’s match with PSG.

“I’m not as smart as Carlo Ancelotti, but I’m smart enough not to answer this question in these times! We all know what you would make of it,” Klopp said.

“I like Carlo Ancelotti. In Germany we say he’s obviously a smart fox. He’s said a lot of positive things about us and nice things about me before a game. It’s nice, but it’s tactics. Carlo has been so long in the business.

“We’re ready for the battle and I don’t care what people say about our situation. Tomorrow we need to step up. This is a fantastic manager, a fantastic team and an emotional crowd.”

Wednesday will be the first time that Klopp returns to the Stadio San Paolo since he was sent off for an almighty rant at the fourth official in Borussia Dortmund’s match against Napoli, an episode that saw his miss two matches, including one against Arsenal.

“It was not my best performance,” he recalled. “I reacted in a way that was not okay. It was my last time when I was a bit too excited and I know it will not happen again.

“They send me in the stand and it was not nice. Sitting there and getting comments all around. I decided second half I stood with the groundsman in the room with a big Diego Maradona shirt on the wall. A few things are the same and a few things changed in a better way.

“We are aware of emotions in the stadium and this tournament for us is really important.”