In a rollercoaster of emotions and defensive mistakes, Italy secured a decisive victory to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the next World Cup. Beyond the three points, this match should raise more than a few question marks about the system and some of the players deployed tonight, in order to avoid further […]
What has become in recent years the fiercest rivalry in Ligue 1 demonstrated its latest offering as Olympique de Marseille visited Olympique Lyonnais. The atmosphere in the Groupama Stadium was notably flatter than on other occasions as Marseille supporters were banned from traveling to Lyon and the home side controlled an affair that has often […]
In what was the best game of the weekend in France, Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco demonstrated perfectly why neither team looks certain of claiming a Champions League berth this season. Marseille were gifted a golden opportunity to heap pressure on an inconsistent Monaco side when their visitors received an early red card but […]
As expected, the match between sides coached by Gennaro Gattuso and Diego Simeone ended up being a physical, intense battle with a fair bit of controversy. Despite Gattuso’s Valencia executing a solid press and structured buildup, they could not break down Atlético Madrid’s final line of defense, and they were not able to beat Atlético […]
In a battle of matching 4-2-3-1 shapes, a balanced contest was played out. Despite some issues in their press, Napoli stifled much of the Milan chance creation while Insigne and company grew into the game. This gave them the platform to capitalize on the counterattack and see out a victory. Tactical analysis and match report […]
Gennaro Gattuso’s buildup ideas combined with a sloppy Juventus press helped Napoli start the match better and create some important chances. In the second half, Juventus’ press became more intense as Napoli started finding less and less solutions. The periods of Juventus’ dominance were characterized by wing play and lots of crosses that did not […]
Lazio started aggressively and quickly took a deserved lead, leaving Napoli with scraps to feed off. Gattuso’s stale side thus fell into the hosts’ trap as they could comfortably sit back against a stale opponent and put pressure in due time. Tactical analysis and match report by Kareem Bianchi. Serie A’s gap to the top is […]
With two of Serie A’s best sides clashing, the stage was set for the star players to leave their mark. Insigne had quite the influence on proceedings in a game where Napoli dominated possession in their 3-3-4 shape. In a deeper left-sided role, he got on the ball often during buildup and looked for openings […]
Roma was no match for an organized Napoli side. Fonseca’s men were unable to threaten the home side’s defense due to an underwhelming attack, which was never able to receive in threatening situations, and an extremely fragile defense, which cost the visitors four goals. Tactical analysis and match report by Kareem Bianchi. Four days after the […]
In a well-rounded display, AC Milan’s pressing limited Napoli’s ability to get into an attacking rhythm. The away side then capitalized, as exceptional movement in the box by Milan’s Ibrahimović saw him put away two crosses. Bakayoko red card heavily affected Napoli’s comeback efforts after Mertens had given them hope. A lack of clinical finishing […]