PSV v Napoli, back to where it all began: Mertens opened the story in 2012 | OneFootball

The year was 2012 when Napoli faced PSV Eindhoven for the first time in an official competition. The first leg, held at the Philips Stadion, quickly turned into a nightmare for the Azzurri: the Dutch club won decisively with a 3-0 score, showcasing clear technical and tactical superiority. The team led by Walter Mazzarri struggled to find rhythm and incisiveness, suffering from the speed of the opponents' counterattacks and the defensive solidity of PSV. Among the stars of the evening emerged a young Dries Mertens, capable of combining speed, dribbling, and a sense of goal, impressing not only the fans but also Napoli's scouts. His performance was so convincing that it made him a concrete target for the following season, when he would arrive under Vesuvius to write memorable pages in the club's history.

PSV-Napoli, a rivalry born in 2012: when Mertens won over the Azzurri

The return match at San Paolo did not change the overall outcome of the double challenge: PSV won again with a 3-1 score, confirming their offensive effectiveness and tactical solidity. Despite the defeat, Napoli seized the opportunity to discover Mertens' talent, who would later become one of the most representative and beloved players by the fans, eventually becoming the top scorer in the team's recent history. Since then, the paths of Napoli and PSV have not crossed again, but that double challenge remains etched in the collective memory of the fans for revealing a future champion. Now, more than ten years later, the Azzurri will return to Eindhoven with the chance to redeem that memory and write a new chapter in this story, seeking a revenge that remains unfinished.

Andrea Alati

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