After both Milan and Inter were held to draws by sides in the bottom half of the table on Friday, Napoli had a huge chance to jump up to the top of the table in this Serie A cracker. Lazio would be no pushovers though, as they needed to stay at the top of their […]
Barcelona made their Europa League debut against Napoli in the first knockout round of the competition. Lifting the Europa League trophy might not have been either side’s grandest ambition, but now they found themselves in it to win it. Napoli must have been the happier side after the final whistle as Barcelona missed lots of […]
In a table topping duel between first and second, Inter Milan and Napoli had the ideal chance to make a statement of intent. In the end, true to the tightness of this title race, neither team could break the deadlock. The former verified their current delicate status in the new year, while the latter will […]
Amid a busy schedule, two of Serie A’s main draws came to a head. In matching Atalanta’s formation, Napoli pulled the usual manoeuvres, to varying success, to try to exploit Atalanta’s man-marking. But it was some of the usual suspects who popped up to give Atalanta the edge in a battle where isolated moments were […]
Early success applying pressure and threatening in transition suggested Napoli would continue their undefeated run. However, the away side began to be overwhelmed by the width on display from Inter. And being clinical in punishing Inter’s midfield turnovers, Napoli’s attack was relatively muted for much of this clash as Inter eventually secured the tight victory. […]
As hosts, Fiorentina welcomed Napoli by commanding possession as they harried Napoli with a press. Napoli were stout defensively and looked to let their individual attacking quality come to the fore. But what both sides shared was a faltering in the final third as not much was created by way of quality chances. Two set […]
Potential title challengers battled, as Napoli monopolized possession and outshot their visitors. However, they toiled in the wide areas and sent speculative shots from distance until a half-time change saw them able to play between the lines to turn the tide. Juventus for their worth were able to create notable chances, be penetrative, even with […]
Inter piled the pressure on Empoli in the first half, mainly with crosses and long shots, without coming close to scoring. Empoli themselves were quite brave in possession and put together some nice attacks of their own, but Inter were able to take the lead early in the second half. After Empoli’s equalizer it looked […]
Carlo Ancelotti’s high energy, pressing side proved to be too big a handful for Luciano Spalletti’s Inter. As the match progressed, Inter did manage to find some respite following drastic changes, but too much of their play kept revolving around the same patterns of poor buildup play and lots of long crosses. Tactical analysis and […]
After surviving early pressure from Internazionale and struggling to break their medium block 4-4-2 shape, Cristiano Ronaldo rescued a point for Juventus in the Derby d’Italia. A tight matchup between two of Italy’s best teams, which showcased their defensive abilities more than their offensive. Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker. Juventus are out […]