CorSport – Napoli, a true Conte masterstroke… | OneFootball

CorSport – Napoli, a true masterpiece by Conte…

Napoli dominated Juve just as Inter had done with Como the day before. They are the title contenders; I didn’t need any confirmation—I’ve thought so from day one—to the point that if in May the scudetto were to go to a third team, I would certainly call it a feat.

Conte allowed Spalletti only one real chance, just one in 95 minutes: Yildiz’s quality managed to turn it into the goal that stunned the Maradona for a few minutes.

Rarely this year have I seen such a convincing, clear-headed, dominant Napoli. The perfect half? Their first half (the opening fifteen minutes were outstanding), considering not only the nominal value of the opponent: they were significantly superior in aggression, ball recovery, build-up, pursuit of the lead (which they achieved immediately), initiative—and here a special mention goes to David Neres, who drove Cabal and Koopmeiners, who were supposed to contain him, crazy, excelling in at least five one-on-one situations. And even two and three.

Still in the first 45 minutes, Juve suffered badly in midfield and up front they were practically non-existent, just a couple of initiatives from Yildiz, whom Spalletti had asked to shoulder the attack.

The “not only” mentioned above is easily (re)explained: for weeks Conte has been playing with two-thirds of Napoli; yesterday he was missing De Bruyne, Meret, Lobotka, Gilmour, Anguissa, Gutierrez, and of course Lukaku.

However, I do not overlook Spalletti’s two heavy absences: Bremer and Vlahovic have no credible alternatives, while Gatti, the other injured player, does not seem to have the coach’s trust.

A true masterpiece by Antonio: resource optimization and knowledge. Spalletti—with an inferior squad—tried to invest in ideas, but this time they didn’t work, also due to Napoli’s superior energy: I’m thinking, for example, of the theoretical double marking on Neres I mentioned, the lightweight attack fielded for a half, and the substitution of Yildiz in the final minutes, that is, just before Hojlund scored the second goal. I insist on saying that Koopmeiners on the left among the back three is a lost cause. And that this Juve never gives the impression of being able to win, and I’m not referring exclusively to the match against Napoli.

Luciano’s return to Napoli can be summed up in a few facial expressions: he seemed afflicted by a temporary inferiority complex.

Carlo Gioia

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.