Repubblica: Napoli back in Champions League as Serie A winners, confident | OneFootball

Repubblica – Napoli Returns to Champions League with the Championship Badge and Much More Confidence!

It's been 18 months since the last time, and for Napoli, there's an extra reason for pride: returning to the Champions League through the main door, with the championship badge sewn onto the jerseys as champions of Italy. Again, exactly a year and a half later. But with much more confidence and many weapons to also assault Europe, which the blues are ready to use already in tonight's tough debut (9 PM) in the almost impregnable den of City. The adventure begins at Manchester's Etihad Stadium with 2700 fans in tow, led by Aurelio De Laurentiis. It's the big night for Kevin De Bruyne, who challenges as an ex the team for which he was the undisputed leader for nine seasons and led to the conquest of a slew of trophies as captain. However, the Belgian ace does not like excesses and for this reason preferred to spend the eve in silence, leaving the spotlight to Antonio Conte and Giovanni Di Lorenzo. The night before the exam was sweeter than tormented for Napoli, given that the return to the Champions League can be experienced without the strong pressures of the championship, where Conte's team must defend its title.

«Here we are instead to learn from the masters, hoping in time as good students to surpass them», was indeed the mantra of the long eve of the coach, very cautious even after his landing in England during the conference at the Etihad Stadium. «Coming to these parts is always a pleasure, I had the pleasure of having two experiences on the bench with top clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham. There's a very high level and coaching in the Premier is gratifying. The same goes for our return to Europe, because we immediately face one of the best teams on the continent. But we arrive with the championship badge on our shirt and we want to confront these important realities, to understand where our growth process is. The difficulty of the new formula was already seen last season, with great clubs forced into playoffs. The level is high and no one should be underestimated. We have enthusiasm and joy, because this is a competition we all want to participate in. We take the positives, without forgetting that for the moment we are called to focus on this start of the season. De Bruyne? I asked him for some information at the beginning about my emotion. Then I'm sure that as always he will give his best».

Di Lorenzo is also pumped, who with his teammates will have the task of keeping Haaland at bay. «We will face a very strong striker, as are his teammates. A lot of attention will also be needed with Doku, for example. I will try to protect my area, but also to restart as soon as possible. There is great enthusiasm to be back in the Champions League, the joy of confronting all the big teams in Europe. Conte has given us a plan for the match and with our weapons, we must do our best to execute it, making as few mistakes as possible and without setting limits. We want to understand what level we have reached. Advice from De Bruyne? He didn't give us much, to be honest. He's a guy who presented himself from day one with great humility and I'm sure that on his return as a former Manchester player he will receive the welcome he deserves». The nostalgia will end, however, at the whistle of the start. The word – after 18 months of long exile from Europe – is finally about to return to the field.

Carlo Gioia

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