Kalidou Koulibaly sets his sights on Europa League success with Napoli

Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has set his sights on winning the Europa League after the Italian side crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night following a narrow defeat against Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the game at Anfield as the Premier League side picked up the victory they needed to overtake Napoli in Group C and reach the last-16.

Defeat ensured Carlo Ancelotti’s side dropped into the Europa League but Koulibaly believes the team can win the secondary competition if they are fully committed. 

Speaking after the game on Merseyside, the Senegalese international said: ‘We will have to give everything in the Europa League to go as far as possible, and even try to win it.

‘We know it won’t be easy because now we are the favourite for it. It will be a difficult competition because there are good teams in the Europa League.

‘But we have time to think about it, now we must think about tonight. We will try and win it.’ 

Napoli had chances to snatch a draw against Liverpool, which would have been enough to take them through but the Reds held on for victory.

Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the game at Anfield as Liverpool eliminated Napoli

The defender apologised to their fans for the manner of their exit but now wants success 

Koulibaly, a long-term transfer target for a host of Europe’s elite clubs, apologised to their fans for the manner of their exit.

‘We were so close. When the group stages started, many people saw us already out of the Champions League,’ he added.

‘We are very sorry because we could have surprised everybody and we couldn’t do it.

‘We have a good team though and I know we will have many good moments in this season.’