Verona – Napoli: Osimhen Double Revitalizes Napoli’s Title Hopes (1-2)

In what was expected to be a fiercely contested fixture between these two rivals, a mostly scrappy affair was played out. Verona’s man-marking toughened Napoli’s task but their individual quality shone through as dynamic combination play led to a steady stream of attacking danger. Osimhen proved pivotal in spearheading the visitors’ attack with his brace setting up their triumph.
Tactical analysis and match report by Julian Chingoma.

Napoli’s recent run was a testament to how quickly perceptions can change in football. A week ago they were breathing down the necks of the league leaders. Now? Juventus were giving them the same treatment after their recent home defeat to the current leaders AC Milan. Now, a top-three finish, which seemed a formality a few weeks prior, is in jeopardy. 

Napoli sat six points off of AC Milan with a game in hand, to be played against ninth-placed Verona. The side led by former Juventus man Igor Tudor and were six points off the pace of UEFA Conference League qualification. He led a goal-filled resurgence after a disastrous start to the season. Verona aimed to inflict a major blow in the Scudetto race for Napoli while continuing their march towards Europe.

In Hellas Verona’s 3-4-3 formation, Lorenzo Montipò was stationed in goal. The back three was Federico Ceccherini, Koray Günter and Boško Šutalo. In midfield, they had Adrien Tameze and Ivan Ilić. The wing-backs were Davide Faraoni and Fabio Depaoli while Antonín Barák, Gianluca Caprari and Giovanni Simeone were the attacking three.

It was more of a 4-3-3 shape for Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli. With David Ospina protecting the goal, Mário Rui, Kalidou . . .