Jurgen Klopp kept his message to his Liverpool players simple ahead of their Champions League opener at Napoli, urging the Reds to "play better" after previous struggles in Naples.
Wednesday will mark the third time Napoli and Liverpool have met in the Champions League group stage in the past five seasons, with the Italian side winning home games against the Reds in both 2018-19 (1-0) and 2019-20 (2-0).
Klopp also lost 2-1 at Napoli while Borussia Dortmund coach, and he knows his players must improve on these previous showings.
"I'm a late bloomer," he said. "I always need a little bit longer to achieve my stuff, and that means sometimes I have to try two times, sometimes three times, sometimes four times – and Napoli [could be] four times, obviously.
"What do we have to do? Play better than in the previous three games – that would be very helpful, because we didn't play particularly well when we came here. One reason is because Napoli are pretty strong."
Despite Liverpool's poor record at Napoli, the Reds have won each of their last three away games against Italian sides in European competition, although the Partenopei have five victories in six Champions League home games against Premier League opposition.
Luciano Spalletti will be in the opposite dugout to Klopp this time around, and the German heaped praise on the Napoli coach and his squad.
"He is a real great of the game, worked all over the world, very successful, you can always see his stamp on the team," Klopp added.
"It's always clear who is the coach, I respect that a lot. Looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.
"[The Napoli players] are not all young, but they're all good... I'm not 100 per cent sure, but I think not too long ago there was a bit of a nervous situation in Napoli around when players left for different reasons; obviously it has all settled again.
"I'm really happy for the people here. But one player who always stayed is [Piotr] Zielinski, and around him you could build again another team – it's a really, really interesting project, I have to say.
"Good football, intense style, different approaches, so really good. Spalletti is a good coach, so nobody should be surprised, and he's obviously pretty relaxed about maybe some nervous things around. So, it's probably a really good fit – that's how it looks."
Arthur Melo, on loan at Liverpool from Juventus, will be familiar with Napoli after his exploits in Serie A and could make his debut against Spalletti's side, but Klopp warns the midfielder will need time to settle.
"Arthur needs now just football – and training, especially – that's how it is. He wasn't in team training for a while at Juve, so he needs proper team training – and that's what we are doing with him," Klopp explained.
"Can he play minutes? Yes. Should he play full game? No, because he needs to get used to the intensity in each competition. It's not like in the Champions League you have to work less than in the Premier League.
"Not at all, especially not here. He is doing well, he is really giving his absolute all in training. We have to be careful with him as well, and then we will see whether we can use him."
Napoli 2-2 Roma: Late Abraham header denies wasteful hosts
A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma in Serie A, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot a minute before the hour mark, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus fouled Sardar Amzoun.
However, Napoli equalised six minutes later through Matias Olivera's deflected shot, and completed the turnaround with their own penalty six minutes from time as Victor Osimhen tucked away after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was felled by Renato Sanches.
The hosts could not hold on, though, and were pegged back with two minutes to go. Substitute Abraham's header from a corner was eventually awarded following a VAR review after he had initially been ruled offside.
Data debrief
Napoli remain eighth in the Serie A table on 50 points, the exact amount they had registered after their opening 19 games of last season.
Though his penalty was not enough to earn Roma victory, Dybala continued his impressive start to 2024, during which he has been involved in the joint-most goals in Serie A with 12 (nine goals, three assists).
Lyon are through to their 11th Women's Champions League final after sealing a 5-3 aggregate victory over compatriots Paris Saint-Germain.
The record eight-time winners scored three times in the final 10 minutes of last week's first leg to take a narrow 3-2 lead into the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
However, they were quicker out of the blocks in the second leg, with just three minutes on the clock when Selma Bacha drilled home from range for her first Champions League strike in five-and-a-half years.
Tabitha Chawinga responded before the break to reduce PSG's aggregate deficit to a single goal, but Melchie Dumornay put the tie beyond doubt nine minutes from time, as Sonia Bompastor's side set up a final showdown with Barcelona on May 25.
Data debrief
Lyon continued their dominance over PSG in Champions League semi-final encounters, having now progressed from each of their last four such ties.
The eight-time champions lost their first two semi-finals they contested in this competition, but have now won each of the last 10, and will seek a record-extending ninth title in Bilbao next month.
Alcaraz's pursuit for third straight Madrid Open crown continues by defeating Seyboth Wild
Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.
Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.
The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.
Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Data debrief
With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.
Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.
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