Napoli only knows how to lose when away in the Champions League. After the defeats against Manchester City and PSV Eindhoven, the Azzurri also lost in Lisbon against Benfica. The defeat does not eliminate the chances of reaching the playoffs which can be achieved by scoring points in the next two matches against Copenhagen and Chelsea, but after the five successes in a row between Serie A, Europe and the Italian Cup, Da Luz’s slide hurts. Because Mourinho, with his team’s best performance of the season, wins with merit and Conte’s team is empty, devoid of rhythm and ideas. Sunday’s big match against Juventus took away the energy from Di Lorenzo and his teammates; the rest is done by the 48 hours of extra rest for the Portuguese, who took to the pitch on Friday against Sporting. A detail? Not even in a dream. If our football is struggling it is also because other countries do everything possible to favor their teams. Can we say the same thing? In terms of squad, the Italian champions are superior to the men of the Special One, but absences and tiredness cancel out the gap. So McTominay, usually a drag guy, is his own double and Hojlund, the Lady’s killer, is never seen. Da Luz celebrates, Napoli returns home with the bitter taste of the knockout in their mouths that they had forgotten in the last month. In Europe, however, it is a constant: there are now five defeats in a row away from home. Too many.
TOO GOOD Mourinho, who due to the defections of Lukebakio, Bah, Bruma and Nuno Felix seemed oriented towards confirming the team returning from the draw against Sporting, instead tries to surprise Conte with Tomas Araujo in defense in place of Antonio Silva and above all with Ivanovic for striker Pavlidis. Napoli, without key players such as Lukaku, De Bruyne, Anguissa and Lobotka (above all), have forced choices and clearly do not give up on the three-man defense that was the turning point after the defeat in Bologna. As against Juventus, the Azzurri turn up the pressure, but this time they do it in a more timid manner also because the Eagles move the ball around with personality and have more energy. Neres tries to hinder the Portuguese approach, but ends up leaving many meters behind him, so Di Lorenzo struggles. Benfica finds the field, too much field, when it comes out with order and fluidity and a backheel from Aursnes only puts the center forward Ivanovic ahead of Milinkovic Savic. Da Luz is only waiting for the decisive thrust from the number 9 who, however, has his shot blocked by the blue goalkeeper, then Aursnes shoots diagonally out. Conte preaches calm and circulation of the ball to look for Hojlund. However, the Dane has few opportunities to show off; ditto Neres and Lang who don’t hurt between the lines. Aursnes and Sudakov, on the other hand, start wide and center, sending Conte’s defense into difficulty. There is only Benfica on the pitch and Aursnes, following a missed clearance from Milinkovic Savic, fails to find the net with the door wide open. Mourinho despairs at his team’s shooting errors, but a handful of seconds later the Special One can celebrate Rios’s opener, served by a rebound between McTominay and Ivanovic after a cross from Dahl. The Serbian goalkeeper gets angry at the lack of reactivity of his team, but it is not the only problem. Napoli are too spread out (Ivanovic did well to attack the depth) and the defensive line is low, so the Portuguese find spaces between the lines to insert themselves. On the left Olivera and Lang are rarely seen, while on the opposite side Di Lorenzo and Neres give more encouraging signals: the captain reaches the conclusion with his head after an insertion “rewarded” by Lang’s cross (the ball ends up at the bottom), while Neres crosses for McTominay who misses the target. Too little because Benfica still finished high with Otamendi and at half-time the numbers spoke volumes: Conte’s men had zero shots on target and just three shots in total, compared to their opponents’ ten.
NAPLES SINKS At the beginning of the second half Conte changes men and formation: with Politano and Spinazzola replacing Olivera and Beukema, Napoli goes from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1, but does so only after having conceded the second goal. Ivanovic serves the insertion of Rios who puts it in the center where Barreiro with a heel anticipates Rrahmani. Bad also Good morning. Da Luz is bedlam and the Azzurri are lost. The reflection of the evening is not McTominay, always forced to chase. The 2-0 is a blow to the morale of Di Lorenzo and his teammates who struggle to reorganize their ideas also because the hosts can lower the center of gravity even further and ask the attacking wingers to cover the new arrival Politano and Spinazzola, fresh forces who do not provide a change of pace on the wings. A header wide by McTominay and a conclusion by Neres that Trubin lifts over the crossbar are misleading, but Napoli doesn’t have the competitive frenzy after the November international break. Conte also throws Lucca into the mix for Lang and switches to 4-4-2 with Politano and Neres outside midfield plus Lucca and Hojlund up front. Mourinho responds with a five-man defense (in Antonio Silva for Sudakov) and prepares to withstand the final assault from the Italian champions. In reality, Benfica still has fuel in the tank and on a restart orchestrated by Barrenechea, Pavlidis calls for Milinkovic to intervene in the corner. Vergara also enters and places a nice cross, but the match is now decided.