Joe Fischetti

Napoli look to bounce back from their third league defeat of the season, while Lecce hope to end a run of five consecutive losses with no goals scored. US Lecce Lecce have lost five consecutive matches, while failing to score a single goal during that run. Nevertheless, the Salentini remain comfortably clear of the relegation zone, eight points ahead of Hellas Verona.  While Lecce will be eager to end their current of losses, they'll also be mindful of an important match against Sampdoria on the horizon. As a result, Marco Baroni, who won the Scudetto as a Napoli player in…

On Tuesday, Lega Serie A issued Official Communication No. 180 for the 28th round of matches of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign contested between the 1st and 3rd of April. These are the words of Sports Judge Gerardo Mastandrea, assisted by Stefania Ginesio and by representative of the AIA Carlo Moretti:"Fine of €3,000 to the Napoli club for its supporters throwing flares into the playing enclosure during the match; mitigated action pursuant to art. 29, paragraph 1, letter b) of the CGS."(Photo credit: Jay Cassano,  Twitter: @jcassano)

From a broken defense to a lackluster attack to infighting amongst protesting fans, everything went wrong for Napoli on Sunday. Meanwhile, everything went right for Milan as an out-of-form Rafael Leão looked like the MVP of last season while an out-of-form Davide Calabria negated Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Here are four takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.Man-Marking MilanIn his 37th appearance this season, Stanislav Lobotka finally had a poor outing. The Slovakian midfielder uncharacteristically missed a number of passes. His pass completion rate of 87.5% was well below his season average of 95.1%. Lobotka’s struggles were largely due to Ismaël Bennacer, who…

Italian champions-elect Napoli host current champions Milan at the Stadio Maradona on Sunday - the first of three encounters over the next three weeks.SSC NapoliNapoli are five wins away from clinching their first Scudetto in 33 years, and the Partenopei would like to mathematically win the title as soon as possible.  Assuming Juventus' point reduction is not overturned by the courts, victories over Milan and Lecce would reduce the magic number to three with nine rounds left to play.That would allow gli Azzurri to focus on the Champions League, as favourites to reach the final, after an extremely favourable draw.  However, Milan will…

On Saturday, SSC Napoli announced via a statement on the club’s official website that Juan Jesus has further extended his contract. The central defender will remain a Napoli player until the end of the 2024/25 campaign, with a club option to extend for an additional two years. Should the club exercise its option, Jesus will be 36 years old by the end of his contract. Jesus took to social media to express his gratitude. I’m happy, the renewal means a lot to me. I don’t want to say much now because I’m focused on the season finale and the work…

On Thursday, Lega Serie A announced that SSC Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was voted the EA Sports Player of the Month for March. Kvaratskhelia will be presented with the trophy prior to Napoli’s match against Milan at the Stadio Maradona on Sunday. The Georgian received the most votes by fans in a poll that included Napoli teammate Kim Min-jae, Armand Laurienté (Sassuolo), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus) and Destiny Udogie (Udinese). The five best players of the month were selected taking into account the advanced analysis of Stats Perform, created from the tracking data recorded with their Hawk-Eye system. It’s the fifth…

Five Napoli players were in action on Tuesday:  Kim Min-jae, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Leo Østigård and Amir Rrahmani. Mathias Olivera was on the bench for Uruguay but did not feature against teammate Kim. Later in the evening, Giovanni Simeone was on the bench for Argentina’s 7-0 friendly victory over Curaçao, but did not feature either.Focus on NapoliKim Min-jae played the full 90 minutes in South Korea’s 1-2 friendly defeat to Uruguay, while Mathias Olivera did not feature off the bench. Despite conceding two goal, Kim had another strong performance at the back.The Napoli defender was frustrated speaking to…

Three Napoli players were in action on Monday:  Victor Osimhen, Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas.  Bartosz Bereszyński was not in the Poland squad as he continues to recover from an injury sustained in training. Back On Top Victor Osimhen played the full 90 minutes in Nigeria’s AFCON qualifier against Guinea Bissau, lined up as one of the two strikers in Jose Peseiro’s 4-4-2 formation. Nigeria won 0-1 on a goal from the penalty spot, converted by Moses Simon. Though Osimhen was kept off the score sheet for the second time in four days by Guinea Bissau, the Napoli striker was…