UEFA Champions League: The best performers from match day 2

#4 Kalidou Koulibaly

Human Brick Wall: Kalidou Koulibaly

Liverpool would have thought they would come back with all three points or atleast one point from Napoli. Their attack that drowned PSG is as good as they come. Liverpool did hold on till, 30 seconds from time when Insigne scored off Jose Callejon’s assist. However, Liverpool didn’t see a sight of the ball in the final third.

Liverpool’s lead attacks, Firmino, Salah and Mane hardly had any exchanges near the box. Kalidou Koulibaly is the person to blame for it. His two tackles and one yellow card hardly show anything about his performance. His presence made it tough for Salah to position himself for the incoming ball. Koulibaly stood in front like a brick thus not giving any thoughts of a forward pass to opponents.

The ball was hardly passed between Firmino, Mane and Salah and that is owed to the ball pinching personality of Kalidou Koulibaly. He is definitely one of the best centre-backs in the whole world due to these traits. His presence can do wonders. There wasn’t much short range threatening attacks that Liverpool could create.

Koulibaly’s presence was not limited to defence. He drove forward through the left wing looking to cross. One of his crosses was right into Jose Callejon but it was cleared off the goal by Joe Gomez. Koulibaly also had a wild shot at goal. He completely destroyed the front three of Liverpool and if he empties his pocket, Salah might be in it.

Koulibaly’s all-round performance is our 4th best performance of the week.