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Jurgen Klopp following his side's win against Napoli :  “UEFA probably thought they could continue the competition without Liverpool, but not yet.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was beaming with pride after his side secured their place in the Last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Napoli.

Mohamed Salah scored the crucial goal for the Reds, which ensured they finished second in the group ahead of Carlo Ancelotti’s side with a superior goals scored record.

Klopp told BT Sport: “Wow, what a game. I am not sure a manager could be prouder of a team than I am.

“The only good thing about the first game at Napoli was that we were our ugly brothers and it wasn’t us at all. Today, we had an opportunity to show more than we did in Italy and the boys played an outstanding game.

“The way we pressed them meant they had to change their game and they had no real key for us.”

Liverpool dominated throughout, but still had to rely on a close range Alisson save in stoppage time to deny their Italian visitors.

Klopp highlighted the importance of the stop: “Mo Salah scored an unbelievable goal and I have no idea how Alisson made a save like this, it was amazing.

“We could have scored more, but the last chance Sadio Mane had made no difference in the standings. It was wild and there were lots of counter attacks but we were ready for that. That is Anfield live and in colour.

“UEFA probably thought they could continue the competition without Liverpool, but not yet. I said if we went out, it wouldn’t have been tonight, it would have been in Napoli when we deserved to lose, but tonight we deserved to win.”

Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday as they welcome fierce rivals Manchester United to Anfield.

Klopp splashed out a record-breaking £67m to bring in the stopper from Roma during the summer. And the German admits the deal is looking like a bargain.

“If I knew Alisson was this good I would have paid double,” he said.

Napoli defender Faouzi Ghoulam spoke to Sky Sport after the Azzurri 1-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield Roado: “It wasn’t an easy game, they scored in the first half and we had to attack.

''It was the perfect game for us. We are so sorry because we played very well in the six games of the group stage. 

''We missed a goal and that made the difference. We are out for only one goal. The season is not over, there are still many games in Serie A and Europa League. 

''We are sorry for the fans and four ourselves. Everybody expected us to be eliminated easily but we fought hard and we only missed one goal.

''We struggled to create goal chances because of their pressing, we had a good chance but we didn’t make the most of it. It’s a pity”.