With Union Berlin managing an away draw against 10-man Braga, Napoli needed at least a point against Real Madrid on Wednesday to guarantee a place in the Knockout Stage of the UEFA Champions League. Even in the absence of a number of Galácticos – Thibaut Courtois, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Éder Militão, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior were all injured – a positive result at the Stadio Bernabéu was always going to be a difficult proposition.
Yet, Napoli came within seven minutes (plus stoppage time) of doing just that. 19-year-old Nico Paz, who entered the match after Real Madrid suffered yet another injury, was gifted his first ever Champions League goal. His strike from outside the area dipped in front of the goal and bounced between the gloves of Alex Meret. Though not entirely to blame – the play started with Juan Jesus playing the ball straight out to touch before Paz eventually turned effortlessly past Jens Cajuste in the middle of the park – many Napoli fans have understandably reached their limit with the Italian goalkeeper, now in his sixth season.
Meret was also criticized for his positioning on Rodygo’s equalizer only seconds after Napoli opened the scoring. However, even a well-positioned keeper would have struggled to stop that shot. Meret was not the only Napoli player to blame for the defeat.
Napoli Brazilian replacement for Kim Min-Jae, Natan, lost Jude Bellingham and misread the flight of David Alaba’s cross on Real Madrid’s second. The Englishman continued his remarkable season, heading past Meret to score his 15th goal across all competitions, later adding a brilliant assist.
In truth, the match-winning goal had been coming. Real Madrid created several chances from the 60th minute onward. Joselu squandered two clear-cut opportunities (in addition to a few half-chances), while Meret made two excellent saves, first on Antonio Rüdiger, diving against his momentum, and then on Bellingham, kicking away a low strike. Unfortunately for Meret, the mistake on Paz’ winner wiped away any memory of those saves.
Though the final score (4-2) was not far off from the xG score (2.8-1.4), Napoli might have felt they deserved more. Indeed, to collect no points through two legs was rather harsh and perhaps a tad unlucky. Madrid’s chances beyond the hour mark might not have transpired had match official François Letexier and his VAR team done their jobs. In the 63rd minute, Antonio Rüdiger appeared to intentionally leave his leg outstretched after a clearance and rather maliciously put his studs into the right thigh of Piort Zielinski.
On most days, and in any competition, the tackle would have resulted in a straight red card and the home side playing the final half-hour with ten men. Letexier missed numerous fouls on either side, but the challenge that forced the Napoli midfielder to exit the match was easily the most glaring oversight.
Despite the result, there were plenty of positive takeaways from Napoli’s performance. Above all was the job of Walter Mazzarri, coaching his first Champions League match since Napoli’s crushing 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in the 2011/12 Round of 16 – the closest Napoli had come to the Quarterfinal prior to last season. The players have quickly united under Mazzarri, who took the bench despite battling a high fever, as confirmed by his hoarse voice in an abbreviated post-match press conference.
“There isn’t one person who scores goals, there is a team that fights to score goals because we all build together,” said André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, speaking to Amazon Prime Video about his 47th-minute equalizer. “This is why I wanted to celebrate like this with all my teammates, the goal was for all of them.”
Mazzarri was also coping with leg pain, but that did not stop him from joining the group hug in celebration of Angissa’s goal. The Tuscan has improved more than just the team morale. Though he is too classy to judge his predecessor, Mazzarri is delivering on his promise to restore Spalletti’s Napoli. The Partenopei are compact, press high, counterpress and build out of the back. Stanislav Lobotka is back to directing, Anguissa appears reborn and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s passion has been rekindled.
Thus far Mazzarri’s substitutions have been on point. Three of his changes combined to score the match winner against Atalanta. Eljif Elmas once again has a role to play, as does Leo Østigård, though he did not feature against Real Madrid. With injuries to Mario Rui, Mathias Olivera, Jesper Lindstrom and Victor Osimhen, the starting XI effectively picked itself. However, the selection of Giovanni Simeone was very calculated.
Mazzarri has been cautious with his star striker, gradually increasing his playing time. Starting Simeone might have been risky, but Napoli were not expected to beat Real Madrid in Spain to begin with. The gamble paid off, with the ever-patient Cholito scoring his first of the 2023/24 edition of the competition, boosted by a pre-match pep talk from his father (and Atletico Madrid manager) Diego Simeone. After a competitive first half, Mazzari replaced Simeone with Osimhen. With the change, which was likely premeditated, Mazzarri simultaneously increased Osimhen’s workload without overburdening him ahead of a massive game against Inter at the weekend.
Ultimately, Osimhen was ineffective, though not necessarily through any fault of his own. The striker was given little service, as if Napoli had become accustomed to playing without him. The Azzurri struggled to retain the ball in the final quarter of the match, under intense pressure from a Real Madrid side who were determined to find a winner.
All is not lost though. In fact, due to the draw between Braga and Union Berlin, Napoli remain in a strong position to advance to the Round of 16. The Partenopei will advance with a win, draw or any one-goal defeat to Braga at the Maradona (due to Napoli’s superior goal differential against Real Madrid and Union Berlin, reaching into the depths of the tiebreak rules).
In the meantime, Mazzarri will turn his attention to his return to the Maradona for a match against his former club and current league leaders Inter.
