Not even the relentlessly upbeat Jurgen Klopp would have dared tout Liverpool as potential winners of last season’s Champions League after their previous visit to Naples.

The Reds suffered the first of their three away defeats in the group stages of this competition at the Stadio San Paolo last October as Lorenzo Insigne secured a 1-0 victory for Napoli in the 90th minute.

In truth, the visitors had not deserved to take it that close after putting in a performance that, by the manager’s admission, was the worst of a season that ended with a sixth European Cup being brought back to Anfield.

Fortunately for Klopp’s players, they have a chance to make amends for that shambolic showing when they begin their defence of the trophy at the same venue on Tuesday having been drawn alongside Carlo Ancelotti’s men once again.

And they also know exactly what caused them to fall victim to an opponent their boss affectionately described as ‘cheeky b******s’ prior to tomorrow’s rematch.

He said: “We talk a lot about intensity; the Napoli game last season was not intensity, Napoli was an organisation problem.

“We were just not… all the things we do, all the things we tell the boys, it is all about intensity and how much we have to invest, but before that it is all about information, what do you have to do in these moments? And Napoli plays a specific style.

“To make it very simple, we played against them in our defending like they had one six but they had two sixes, the cheeky b******s.

“We knew before we told them, they had two sixes, but then everyone came too late and that was when it started.

“We tried to change it in the game and nobody listened and nobody could change and in the end they were lucky they scored but we were lucky it was only 1-0.”

All three of Klopp’s European campaigns as Liverpool manager have ended with a final appearance, though it took until the third attempt for a trophy to be secured.

So, now his players have finally got their hands on silverware, does that make it harder to keep them hungry for further success?

Not according to Klopp, who believes the intense competition for places at Anfield is keeping his team on their toes.

He added: “For the boys, they are young people and they feel they have things to prove. Not to me, to the outside world, to go for the next one. And the competition in this team is really big, yes.

“If that line-up is not performing, they are really there. As an example, Shaq is brought in in that position where he has been training for a couple of weeks now. He is so creative. He is a real option. If you have one good game and another good game the dynamic changes.

“Dejan Lovren is not in the squad and I have no explanation for that other than two centre-halves on the bench is probably not necessary.

“Naby Keita is coming, everyone knows that. When Ox played really well at Southampton, for the all others it was ‘ooh’ - you should see training.

“They all want to make sure, ‘I am ready, you can use me’. This is a really big club with competition between friends. It is not I have to kill him to play, it is really for the team.

“That is what the boys did so far and as long as we have that we will go for everything. Then we have to see what we get because we have really good opponents and that is the problem.”

That competitive edge is also helpful when it comes to maintaining a challenge on multiple fronts.

It is, Klopp believes, what helps his players quickly move on from a hard-fought Premier League win over Newcastle United on Saturday to their midweek European commitments.

He continued: “We could not have won the games we have if the boys are not exceptional. They are. But the games are so difficult and there is nothing to celebrate now.

“Nobody in the dressing room has arms up, job done. The next one is waiting. You are allowed to talk about it and write about, we have to think what we do on Tuesday.

“We take only the feeling with us and I take some information. Most of them do not talk about and play the next game.

“The feeling on the pitch is brilliant but now the preparation [for Napoli] has already started.”