Decoding Napoli
"There is still some reservations in the last two months of 2022 and early 2023. But now, the excitement of the fans has been evident, even to the point of frenzy on the streets of Naples, when the team Their ball - Napoli - shows no sign of stopping," commented Spanish newspaper Marca.
In Serie A, Napoli is 19 points ahead of second-place Lazio - a gap that almost guarantees them the third championship in history, after 1987 and 1990 - when the legendary Diego Armando Maradona was still at the club. .
The question now is when will Napoli take the throne? In theory, if they maintain a 19-point gap with the chasing group, they will become the earliest Serie A champions in the derby against Salernitana in front of the home crowd on April 29. To do this, the army under Spalletti needs to win all 15 points in the next five matches, including Milan, Lecce (with away), Verona (at home), Juventus (away) and Salernitana (at home).
But not only Serie A, as said by Spalletti, Napoli also aspires to win the Champions League for the first time. Crushing Frankfurt with a total score of 5-0 in the round of 16, they entered the quarter-finals of the C1 Cup/Champions League for the first time in their 118-year history.
During Maradona's time in the team, Napoli twice attended the C1 Cup, but lost to Real in the first round of the 1987-1988 season and Spartak Moscow in the 1/8 round of the 1990-1991 season. Napoli participated in the Champions League seven times between 2011-2020, including three times in the 1/8 round, three times in the group stage and once in the preliminary round.
Napoli's next opponent is Milan, with the quarter-final first leg taking place at the San Siro on April 13, and the second leg at Diego Armando Maradona a week later. "From Maradona, Ciro Ferrara, Andrea Carnevale to Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kim Min-jae. This is a more international Napoli collective that also dreams of surpassing their legendary predecessors by setting miracles in the Champions League. - unthinkable but increasingly real," commented Marca.
"Many people predicted Napoli would have problems after the 2022 World Cup," Spalletti told a press conference last month. But the reality shows the opposite when they are even the most stable in Europe, when they lost only two matches in Serie A, before Inter and Lazio with the same score 0-1. These two "individual" failures came because Napoli was somewhat disconnected and had difficulty with the opponent's unexpectedly solid defense.
In addition, Napoli were also eliminated by Cremonese on penalties in the Italian Cup, but they only used the reserve team this match.
In all competitions, Napoli won 30 of 35 matches. No other club in Europe is so stable and Napoli are aiming to become the greatest Serie A champions in history. This record currently belongs to Antonio Conte's Juventus in the 2013-14 season, when they finished with 102 points, 17 points ahead of second-placed Roma.
Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen resonate almost every week, but in every interview they pay tribute to the Italian teacher. "Spalletti always pushes me to do my best. He is a top coach, wants every player to be able to present himself in the best way," Osimhen said last month.
Spalletti's career was full of ups and downs, culminating in the years leading the legendary Francesco Totti at Roma. Spalletti also worked at Sampdoria, Udinese, Inter, but his decision to go to Russia to train Zenit Saint Petersburg made him unnoticed. But now, the 64-year-old coach is about to break all prejudices to make history with Napoli. "They want to be something, to be someone," Spalletti said. "There is a saying among the people of Naples that those who are hungry are not sleepy. This statement speaks for all of us. I am ready to do anything for Napoli."
Spalletti's success is based on a 4-2-3-1 system, starting with Alex Meret - who suddenly regained his form despite being given no future at Napoli when the club targeted Keylor Navas in the summer of 2022. Meret is also competing with Gianluigi Donnarumma - who has not maintained his high form since coming to PSG - for the main starting spot on the Italy team.
Meret regained form partly due to being shielded by an excellent defense. Captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo is the best right-back of the tournament, Kim Min-jae makes fans forget about Kalidou Koulibaly, and Amir Rrahmani or Mario Rui also do a good job when given the opportunity. "I see very few players with skills and qualities like Kim Min-jae," Spalleti praised the Korean player. "He's amazing, always aggressive and deserves to start every game. But look at Di Lorenzo too, he's a super player. Napoli isn't just Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen."
In the middle of the pitch, Stanislav Lobotka - who has just extended his contract until 2027 - proves his status as a top playmaker and competes for the title of Serie A's best midfielder of the season. The Slovakia midfielder is the conductor, no miss a pass and control the tempo of the game at will. Frank Anguissa and Piotr Zielinski, each with their own characteristics, are Lobotka's perfect midfield partners.
On attack, Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen played too explosively. Osimhen has scored 21 goals since the start of the 2022-2023 Serie A season, equaling the record for most goals by an African player in a Serie A season set by the legendary Samuel Eto'o in 2011. Kvaratskhelia has 12 goals and 12 goals. assists from the beginning of the 2022-2023 Serie A season. This is an unexpected achievement for a player who still plays for Georgia Dinamo Batumi club in early 2022.
The remaining position on the right wing is a competition between Matteo Politano and Hirving Lozano. They always shine when given the opportunity to turn Napoli into one of the most feared clubs in Europe.
"Spalletti is a top strategist, a master," legendary coach Arrigo Sacchi told Gazzetta dello Sport, praising the Napoli captain for his innovative side. Spalletti did not talk about the system, the 4-2-3-1 formation, the winger, the midfielder or the striker. Instead, he emphasizes occupying space, swapping positions and freely promoting abilities, enjoying the game.
According to Marca, owning a squad with an average age of 26.1 years brings two advantages. Napoli is strong enough to recover physically when having to move and compete continuously in two arenas. They also do not make the mistake of youth and lack of experience in important matches.
These changes are the sweet fruit after the tumultuous but perfect 2022 summer transfer window. Napoli bid farewell to a series of pillars and names that have been with the club for a long time, including Fabian Ruiz, Koulibaly, Dries Mertens, David Ospina, Faouzi Ghoulam or Lorenzo Insigne. In return, they brought Kim Min-jae from Fenerbahce for less than $ 20 million and Kvaratskhelia for less than $ 15 million. These two discoveries and other rookies like Giacomo Raspadori, Tanguy Ndombele or Giovanni Simeone help thicken the squad and keep competitive motivation for all members.
Napoli has a lower revenue than the giants of Northern Italy such as Juventus, Inter or Milan, so De Laurentiis does not allow the team to spend beyond its financial capacity. "We don't owe the bank," he boasted in 2019. Even if Serie A was devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Calcio e Finanza, Napoli only lost about $60 million in the 2021-2022 financial year. . And this loss is still much lower than the huge numbers of Juventus, Inter or Roma.
In the 2021-2022 season, Napoli signed two Unicredit loans with a total amount of more than 50 million USD, the first debts with banks that the club recorded in its financial statements since 2007. But in return, the balance of revenue and expenditure of the team is at positive $ 60 million.
And yet, Napoli's sponsorship and commercial revenue in 2022 is up to 40 million USD, with the club having four brands printed on the shirt - the maximum allowed in Italy. Inter earned nearly $90 million from this, and Juventus even more, but that difference did not frighten De Laurentiis. If needed, Napoli can still make a lot of money from the stars they have - who are bought cheaply.
"We don't have to sell. But if there are crazy offers, you won't know," he said when asked about offers for Osimhen or Kvaratskhelia, a reference to rivals' spending. at least $150 million to recruit these stars.
But buying and selling is the story of the summer, and now, the Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia, Lobotka, Kim Min-jae will continue with their teacher Spalletti to assert the number one position in Italy. A victory over Milan - last season's champions - at home to Diego Maradona today will be the clearest demonstration of Napoli's absolute strength. In the first leg, they won 2-1 away from Milan.
