“It was a bit of a tough match. We didn't snatch it, but it was a deserved victory, even if it was narrow.”
Thus the Napoli coach, Luciano Spalletti, he comments on the seventh victory in 7 games of the Azzurri in the championship thanks to the 2-1 comeback against Fiorentina. And then he added: "It's not easy from a physical point of view when you find teams that play like this all over the pitch. Luckily we have fast players up front and therefore they are difficult to catch, and two balls that get past the opposing defense are enough to make the difference."
“The five substitutions prolong the life of the matches, in some circumstances even being 2-0 ahead is not enough – added – We played below our potential. We were unable to get a playable ball to Mertens and Petagna in the final minutes. Anguissa came out great in the second half, better as a midfielder. The substitutions helped us anyway”.
And speaking of the Mertens, “He’s not at his best yet. But much better now than in the first three games of the championship where there were many absentees. The free kick for 2-1? Borussia Dortmund took it and our analyst showed it to us – Spalletti revealed – Mario Rui could have taken the free kick. Baldini usually takes care of the dead balls, he studies the opponents. Then the defensive phase is analyzed by Calzona. Marco Domenichini studies the pressing in attack. We are a staff, we divide the tasks”.
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"We suffered long balls for Vlahovic. They put Sottil who is a great player. In the end we were a team, we suffered but we had the chance to make it 3-1. We need to improve further, to bring home games that you suffer. This victory is narrow and there was the possibility of doing better. Some players are not yet in shape like Mertens. Playing every three days is not easy, we still have a lot to do."
Rome – Matchday 22 of the 2025/26 Serie A season promises to be packed with high-profile refereeing action. The Italian Referees Association has released the official refereeing appointments: key matches include Juventus-Napoli, refereed by Maurizio Mariani of the Aprilia section, scheduled for Sunday, January 25th at 6:00 PM, and Roma-Milan, refereed by Andrea Colombo of…
The Maradona defeat leaves Luciano Spalletti with more questions than certainties. The Juventus coach acknowledges his team's setback and does so frankly, emphasizing that Napoli deserved the victory. "Napoli were stronger than us today. I honestly can't say how different our level is from theirs, but it's clear we can do much better. We were too timid in possession, and in midfield we didn't create the superiority that could have changed the game for us. They, with their quality, left us running around empty," he told DAZN.
The match became difficult for Spalletti from the first 45 minutes, primarily due to the attitude of his forwards. "In the first half, we had little mobility up front. In the second half, we opted for man-to-man play, but Napoli knew how to use speed and technique to turn the game around every time we left them an opening. We were too academic, we took few risks, and we almost never tried to force anything," observed the Juventus coach, highlighting a lack of courage that ultimately affected the entire match.
Flavio Briatore hasn't lost his taste for provocation, even when it comes to football. As a Juventus fan, the Piedmontese entrepreneur commented with irony on Luciano Spalletti's possible arrival at the club. Juventus, launching a joke that immediately set social media ablaze: "I don't like Spalletti, because I remember him from the national team. But he won the Scudetto with Napoli and got a tattoo. Now he should get a Juventus tattoo on his other arm."
The former Formula 1 manager spoke in Turin, during the presentation of the new restaurant crazy pizza, the brand of the Majestas group—which he founded with Francesco Costa—which already has 23 locations in 14 countries. Between a slice of pizza and a question about the future of Juventus, Briatore also wanted to share his thoughts on the management of the company: “The management managed the team badly, spending a lot of money.”
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