Year: 2023

On Tuesday, Lega Serie A issued Official Communication No. 162 for the 25th round of matches of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign contested between the 3rd and 6th of March. These are the words of Sports Judge Gerardo Mastandrea, assisted by Stefania Ginesio and by representative of the AIA Carlo Moretti: Fine of €15,000 to Lazio for its supporters, during the match and at the end of the match, throwing two flares and a plastic bottle into the sectors occupied by the opposing fans; also for its supporters, during the competition, throwing five flares onto the pitch level; and finally,…

In the first episode of the week, Gianluca joins Joe Fischetti to review Napoli’s second loss of the season, including: Maurizio Sarri using Inzaghi-ball to beat Luciano Spalletti’s Sarri-ball (~1:35) Did Napoli underutilize their wings? (~4:40) Should Patric have been sent off? (~7:18) Napoli lacking a player to take direct free kicks (~12:56) A blueprint on how to beat Napoli (~17:14) Kvara’s turnover and Vecino’s brilliant goal (~21:44) Man of the Match (~23:50) Traveling Lazio fans bringing paper bombs into the Maradona (~26:55) Osimhen working so hard to play in the English Premier League (~30:37)

On Monday, Victor Osimhen was awarded the Foreign Athlete of the Year award by the Foreign Press Association of Italy.  After accepting the award; Osimhen unintentionally stirred up some controversy when he was asked about playing in the English Premier League in the future. Many media outlets and social media channels took the quote out of context by only publishing a portion of the response.  Here is the full question posed by Reuters and the full response from Osimhen. Question: you have played already in three of the five major leagues. Do you have ambitions to play in Spain or…

Napoli’s suffered their first league defeat at the Maradona, as Maurizio Sarri’s pragmatic approach paid off. Here are three takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.Changing TacticsMaurizio Sarri had a game-plan and his team executed it to perfection. Ironically, Lazio did not use Sarri-ball to defeat Luciano Spalletti’s Sarri-ball 2.0. Lazio’s tactics were more akin to those of Simone Inzaghi and Massimiliano Allegri.Lazio defended with 11 men behind the ball, often all in the Lazio half. Recognizing Napoli’s strengths, Lazio crowded the middle of the park and took away the passing lanes. The Partenopei responded by playing the long ball over…

Napoli look to extend their current win streak to nine matches and maintain, at minimum, an 18-point lead over their nearest rivals. Meanwhile, Lazio, who are competing for a place in next season's Champions League, will look to secure their first victory at the Stadio Maradona/San Paolo since the 2014/15 season.SSC NapoliWith Inter’s surprise loss to Bologna, Napoli opened up an 18-point lead over the two clubs from Milan. However, Luciano Spalletti refuses to count his chickens before they hatch. With Napoli competing in only one competition until the Champions League resumes in mid march, the Napoli coach has little…

In the first episode of the week, Joe Fischetti reviews Saturday's Match against Empoli and previews Friday’s match against Lazio, including: Part 1 - Match Review: Empoli vs Napoli, including: Napoli taking advantage of corner kicks; Mario Rui’s red card and playing with ten men; Vicario with another stellar performance; Napoli’s impressive defensive run of form; and Hirvng Lozano continued strong play (~0:57) Part 2 - Match Preview: Napoli vs Lazio with Alasdair Mackenzie, including: Lazio’s season up to this point; Sarri’s reluctance to rotate, despite a busy summer mercato; Inconsistent Alberto and Milinkovic-Savic; Injuries to Immobile; Starting lineups; and…

On Wednesday, Lega Serie A issued Official Communication No. 161 for the 24th round of matches of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign contested between the 25th and 28th of February. These are the words of Sports Judge Gerardo Mastandrea, assisted by Stefania Ginesio and by representative of the AIA Carlo Moretti: Disqualification for two effective match days and fine of €10,000 Silva Duarte Mario Rui (Napoli): for voluntarily kicking a player in the groin of the opposing team in the 22nd minute of the second half, after falling to the ground following a normal tackle with the ball away from…

Victor Osimhen scored his 19th goal of the season, extending both the club's current win streak and the player's current goal-scoring run to eight consecutive matches. Here are four takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.From the CornerNapoli have demonstrated this season that they can score goals in a variety of different ways:  well-worked team moves, individual moments of brilliance, (sometimes) from the penalty spot and, as demonstrated against Empoli, from the set piece.Napoli earned seven corner kicks in the first half alone, and converted two of them into goals. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia routinely set up at the edge of the Empoli…