Trent Alexander-Arnold admits Liverpool have become the hunted after Champions League triumph

Everything has changed and they know it. As much as Jurgen Klopp insists it is business as usual and a trip to Naples is just another game, the hunters realise they have become the hunted.

‘We’ve got a big target on our backs now because we are European champions,’ said Trent Alexander-Arnold. ‘Everyone wants to beat us. We are the team to beat right now, so it’s exciting. We need to try and defend the honour as much as possible – and try and retain it if we can.’

There was a time when Liverpool travelled into Europe as a just a famous name with a rich back story but this year’s Champions League campaign begins with them standing proudly on top of their perch. Plenty will want to knock them off but the challenge of staying there is a source of inspiration.

But boss Jurgen Klopp insists it is business as usual and the trip to Naples is just another game

Liverpool, arguably, have been the top team in European competition since Klopp arrived on Merseyside – four finals and two trophies since 2016 make their claims compelling – and their hunger to carry on achieving should not be underestimated.

The events of June 1, when Liverpool beat Tottenham in Madrid, will not be forgotten but nor will it be spoken about each time they have a Champions League date. Klopp and his players have made it clear the future is what matters and the future begins in the foreboding Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday.

‘A lot of the players that we have are world class,’ said Alexander-Arnold. ‘They know what it takes to win things and what it takes to be successful, so I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to embrace that as a team. I think we have so far this season in the Premier League.

‘Last season we did so well and this season we’re up there again. Lots of teams will want to come to Anfield to try to beat us, play different ways and we know that’s going to be the test for us. But we need to be ready for all types of tests.

‘Being able to keep clean sheets and being able to win away is massively important – especially in the Champions League, when you probably only get one or two chances (in a game) to beat teams and get results. You are playing against Europe’s elite and it’s about maximising your opportunities.’

The quest to win ‘Number Seven’ starts with the most difficult assignment in Group E, a contest in a stadium that by kick-off will resemble a furnace. They have long memories here and the way in which Liverpool squeezed Carlo Ancelotti’s team out of the group stages 12 months ago still rankles.

Klopp’s team lost 1-0 when they visited last October, succumbing to an 89th minute Lorenzo Insigne goal, but the final score gave no reflection to how the game went: Klopp spent most of the contest with his arms spinning like the sails on a windmill, so aghast was he with the performance.

Liverpool’s quest for ‘Number Seven’ begins with a difficult assignment at Napoli in Group E

‘We were just not…’ said Klopp, searching for the right words about where it all went wrong. ‘All the things we do, all the things we tell the boys about intensity and how much we have to invest – Napoli plays a specific style.

‘To make it very simple, we played against them in our defending like they had one 6 but they had two sixes, the cheeky b******s! We tried to change it in the game. Nobody listened and nobody could change. In the end they were lucky (when) they scored but we were lucky it was only 1-0.’

Klopp raised a wry smile when asked if he would take a draw here to open in Group E, given that defeat was followed by reverses in Belgrade and Paris; a point would be a perfectly respectable start but the German made his intentions clear – ‘we want to win,’ he said – and so did his team.

‘Those three away fixtures were really difficult in different ways,’ Alexander-Arnold explained. ‘You had different tests and it was one of them where we’re going to learn from it this season. We learned from it then pushed on in the Round of 16.

Klopp stressed the importance of his side winning away games to help remove pressure

‘We went to the Allianz and beat Bayern Munich so we know that we can go and win away games. For us it’s about executing that early doors and taking that little bit more pressure off ourselves. Hopefully we can push on.’

Certainly Liverpool have arrived in Italy in rude health. Klopp has some concerns over whether Andrew Robertson will be fit to play, having missed training yesterday due to a knee issue sustained in Saturday’s 3-1 beating of Newcastle, but that apart they are primed and ready.

‘We are trying to reach the same level as last year,’ said Klopp. ‘We will judge our improvement at the end of the season. For the moment, we will do our best.’