Naples in the Champions League? Personality, game and collective identity

When, on the eve, Oliver Glasner, coach of Eintracht, observed: “Napoli does not look like an Italian team”, we were reminded of a phrase like that of Leo Beenhakker, coach of Real Madrid, on the eve of Real-Milan , Champions Cup 1988-89: “Be aware that Milan fans are not Italian”.

He meant, “They won’t wait for us in defense.” And in fact the day after Arrigo Sacchi’s Immortals attacked Real from the first to the last minute, as no one had ever dared to do at the Bernabeu. So did the splendid Napoli of Frankfurt yesterday. The result, round, deserved, unequivocal is nothing compared to the way he got it. Exactly as they said of that Milan.

QUALITY

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Personality: immediately masters of the field in a hostile context and in the Champions League setting which is different from the championship; a whopping 70% possession, rather than domination: tyranny. Identity of the game: perfect automatisms, security when exiting the ball, a thousand narrow triangles embroidered in midfield to create superiority, spectacular deep attacks. Collective: not only the splendid Osimhen, who scored again and drips goals like a broken faucet. In a not exciting evening for Kvara, who missed a penalty and had an excellent chance, many others shone: Lobotka, who started slowly and then became the absolute master of geometry; Anguissa, impressive for its physicality and continuity, Gulliver in Lilliput; and then the uncatchable Lozano, the insurmountable Kim… Serenity: Napoli dusted off the wrong penalty like a hair on their shoulder. He didn’t suffer from it, he never let himself be dragged into the swamp of foul play, he went straight ahead icy, strong in his own knowledge.

OUTSIDE ITALY

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You could hear whispers: “The Champions League is not Serie A… Here nobody attacks you and jumps on you like the Germans who are tanks… Let’s see, let’s see…”. We have seen. Napoli is strong beyond customs, like in Italy. Indeed more. Beauty: the goals were splendid, especially the second, in speed, cooked up by a touch of the heel by Kvara. And not just the stars. The 2-0 was signed by the right full-back with a caress like an attacking midfielder. Here there is no one holding the lectern and no one playing. All Spalletti artists participate in the show. This Naples, by constitution, will always be more beautiful than the results it collects or, better, it needs the scale of beauty to reach the top. Exactly as happened to Gullit and Van Basten’s Milan. Like that Milan, this Napoli can go all the way and lift the Champions League, also because its proactive and dominant game has the right parameters to establish itself in Europe, where quality is rewarded. Furthermore, the 15-point advantage will allow Spalletti a generous turnover in the league and the ideal approach to cup matches. Last sensation, after the dazzling performance in Frankfurt: this relatively young Naples can open an important cycle and make history. We don’t want to say that Spalletti’s Napoli is already worth Sacchi’s Milan, but the direction of travel is right.

INTER

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Tonight it’s Inter’s turn against ex-friend Sergio Conceiçao who has ten victories in a row. How do you underestimate it? Porto are a team they like when they come out of the box, much less when they have to be faced on the pitch. Juve and Milan have slammed us in the last two Champions Leagues. Organization, compactness, technical quality, dribbling: the Portuguese treasure. But Inter have everything to go further, from superior physicality to the state of grace of Lautaro’s world championship. We want three Italians to play the round of 16 looking down on their opponents. We want to bring three representatives to the quarterfinals like we haven’t been able to since 2005-06. The example to follow is the courageous and dominant football of Napoli. And maybe one day when they say “those are Italians”, they will mean people who attack and have fun.