Leonardo Rossi’s equalizer against 10-man Juventus forced stoppage time, which settled nothing. Claudio Turi’s save on Saverio Domanico saw Napoli through to quarterfinals after all four Napoli shooters converted.
Lineup
Nicolo Frustalupi rotated heavily, making eight changes to the squad he fielded against Milan in the Primavera 1. Captain Benedetto Barba remained in the squad at centre back, as did Enrico Giannini on the left side of the midfield. Meanwhile, Jorge Alastuey dropped from trequartista to play in the centre of the midfield.
(3-4-2-1) Turi; D’Avino, Barba, Nosegbe; Giannini, Zula, Alastuey, Gningue; Boni, Sahli; Pesce
First Half
The clubs exchanged chances early in the match before Juventus began to impose themselves. In the fifth minute, Joseph Nonge blocked the pass of Luigi D’Avino to start the break. The Central midfielder continued his run and tested Claudio Turi, but Napoli’s second keeper was up to the task.
Eight minutes later, Giannini dispossessed Tommaso Maressa deep in Juventus territory. The Napoli wingback dribbled along the by line before his low cross was blocked by Juventus goalkeeper Giovanni Daffara. Giannini continued his run and nearly got to the spilled rebound but Daffara pounced on the loose ball before Giannini could get there.
The Bianconeri increased the pressure at the half-hour mark, led by Kenan Yildiz and Tommaso Mancini. The pair combined to create a chance in the 29th minute, but Mancini’s left-footed strike from the edge of the area was stopped easily by Turi. Mancini came close again moments later when he was afforded a free header on a Juventus corner kick, but once again the shot was straight at Turi.
Though he squandered numerous chances, Mancini still left his mark on the match, assisting Yildiz on the opening goal. The Turkey U21 player cut in on his right foot before curling the ball into the top corner at the far post.
Napoli responded well, coming close after Bilel Sahli drew a free kick and a yellow card in a dangerous area. Jorge Alastuey, who was easily the man of the match, went direct for goal. The Spaniard curled his shot around the wall but Daffara stopped the bouncing effort.
Juventus were unphased by the chance and immediately went back on the offensive. In the 38th minute, Nonge dribbled to the edge of the Napoli area and attempted to curl the ball inside the near post, but the shot took a slight deflection and finished narrowly wide of the mark.
Mancini came close again a minute later. Midfielder Luis Hasa slipped a through ball to Yildiz in the area. He squared to Mancini, but once again the forward failed to make good contact with his left and Turi made the easy save.
It seemed only a matter of time before Juventus scored a second but the trajectory of the match changed dramatically moments before the break. Jonas Rouhi misjudged the flight of Giannini’s long switch from left to right. That allowed Lamine Gningue to head past the defender, who had no choice but to grab Lamine’s shirt to prevent the clear break. Rouhi was shown a straight red card, forcing Juventus to play the entire second half with ten men.
Second Half
The extra man and a few tactical substitutions from Frustalupi tipped the scales in Napoli’s favour. Napoli nearly equalized early in the second half. Alastuey played a diagonal ball to Noah “Zula” Mutanda in the area. The midfielder’s strike was destined for the top corner but Daffara did well to push the shot out for a corner kick – the first of eight Napoli corner kicks in the second half.
One of Frustalupi’s substitutes, Alessandro Spavone, looked especially dangerous in the second half. The trequartista’s best chance came just past the hour mark, after Barba pressed high to win the ball back. Napoli rotated the ball through Alastuey and Giannini, who played Bilel Sahli through on the left side of the area. Sahli picked out Spavone with a low ball into the area. Somehow, from the edge of the 6-yard box, Spavone skied his shot over the bar.
Spavone came close again a minute later. Another substitute, Francesco Gioielli, chased down Nonge to win the ball in the middle of the park. In an instant, Napoli shifted from defense to attack. Gioielli passed to Spavone at the edge of the area, but his left-footed strike bounced narrowly wide of the mark.
The pair combined again in the 75th minute, with Gioielli once again finding Spavone in the middle of the park. This time he went for goal with his right and would have found the top corner had not it not been for the intervention of Daffara.
Three minutes later, Juventus finally succumbed to the pressure. Matteo Marchisano cut in from the right wing before squaring the ball to Alastuey. He played the extra pass to Rossi at the edge of the area. The striker took one touch to settle the ball before blasting it into the top corner to make the score 1-1.
With the wind in their sails, Napoli pushed for the winner and came close again six minutes before time. Alastuey played a delicate chip pass towards Leonardo Rossi at the second. All it needed was a touch but Rossi failed to make contact. That was the final chance in normal time, meaning an additional 30 minutes of extra time would be played.
Penalty Shootout
| Team | Shooter | Outcome | Score |
| Napoli U19 | Jorge Alastuey | GOAL – Sends the keeper the other way | 0-1 |
| Juventus U19 | Lorenzo Anghelè | GOAL – Sends the keeper the other way | 1-1 |
| Napoli U19 | Matteo Marchisano | GOAL – Keeper guesses correctly but can’t stop the shot | 1-2 |
| Juventus U19 | Tommaso Maressa | GOAL – Stutter step before sending the keeper the other way | 2-2 |
| Napoli U19 | Alessandro Spavone | GOAL – Sends the keeper the other way | 2-3 |
| Juventus U19 | Giulio Doratiotto | NO GOAL – Sends the keeper the other way but hits the frame of the goal | 2-3 |
| Napoli U19 | Francesco Gioielli | GOAL – Sends the keeper the other way | 2-4 |
| Juventus U19 | Saverio Domanico | NO GOAL – Excellent save by Claudio Turi | 2-4 |
With the win, Napoli advanced to the quarterfinals, which will be played on January 25th. The Azzurrini will meet Roma, who are currently top of the Primavera 1 table. In the meantime, Napoli look ahead to another match against the Bianconeri in Primavera 1.
