Napoli v Inter Milan : Serie A
It’s Win-Win for Inter as Napoli Attempts to Break a Seven-Year Jinx.
Napoli intends to derail the Internazionale Express this weekend at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Let’s take a look at the situation.
Inter’s aim is to extend its winning streak to twelve matches this weekend against a Napoli side rejuvenated and ready to challenge for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL).
Antonio Conte appears to have another Serie A title as a coach wrapped up with eight games to go — his first since leading Juventus to glory in 2014. The Nerazzurri are playing football the Italian way — soak up the pressure and punish on the counter.
Call it boring if you like, I call it effective.
What are Napoli’s chances?
Gennaro Gattuso is battling for his Napoli career and, much like in his playing days, is looking to settle the fight on the field. The Azzurri have only lost one of their previous eight games and would love nothing more than taking another big scalp before the Stagione is finished.
You see, Napoli has defeated Milan (2nd), Juventus (3rd) and Atalanta (4th) already in this campaign, but not Inter.
Nothing would bring Aurelio De Laurentis more joy than winning a league game against each of his top four rivals that are pushing for UEFA Champions League qualification (UCLQ).
Not since the 2013/14 campaign, when Rafa Benitez was in charge, has a Napoli side defeated all of their direct rivals who were competing for Champions League spots.
Napoli overcame Inter, Fiorentina, Roma and Juventus that season, the latter being led to a glorious triple-digit Scudetto win by current Inter Milan coach, Antonio Conte.
As a bonus, Napoli also beat Milan twice in 2013/14. Clarence Seedorf was the Diavolo coach, Michael Essien ran the midfield, Adil Rami played in defence and a seventeen-year-old Andrea Petagna warmed the bench as Milan struggled to finish in the top half of the table.
Napoli and Inter have already met once before this season. Let’s investigate how it panned out.
DECEMBER 2020
Milan is leading Serie A, Inter and Napoli hold second and third positions in the League after wins over Bologna and Sampdoria respectively.
It’s Match Day 12 and Inter hosts Napoli at the Giuseppe Meazza. Matteo Darmian goes down in the penalty area after David Ospina flaps at his leg. Referee Davide Massa points to the spot.
While the penalty was enough to send Gattuso apoplectic, the ensuing red card, shown to Lorenzo Insigne, would have been enough for the Napoli coach to wish that both lenses of his corrective glasses were covered over.
Inter wins 1–0.
While Inter Milan had a couple of decent chances to score from general play that evening, Napoli was much the better side — even with ten men. Samir Handanovic was superb with saves from Insigne and Politano and in the last-minute Andrea Petagna controlled, turned and struck the post.
A league point lost for the Partenopei which could end up costing them dearly in regards to Champions League qualification. Two extra points gained for Inter, which catapulted them to within a point of Milan - the Diavolo stumbling after two consecutive 2–2 draws against Parma and Genoa.
Skip forward a couple of months.
FEBRUARY 2021
Match Day Twenty-Two in February was full of twists. With Mertens, Ospina, Manolas, Demme and Koulibaly all out with injuries, sixth—placed Napoli put a stop to a series of shocking results by defeating Juventus 1–0 at the Maradona to reignite their UCL ambitions.
Only a couple of hours later, Milan was outplayed by newly-promoted Spezia and lost 2–0 in Liguria while Inter cruised to a 3–1 victory over fifth-placed Lazio the next day.
Inter were finally on top of the Serie A standings after Juventus and Milan unexpectedly dropped points.
In effect, Inter and Napoli had helped each other out on this particular weekend, allowing the script to be re-written on…
MATCH DAY TWENTY-THREE, The Milan Derby.
Milan 0 Inter 3
Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku laid siege to Gigi Donnarumma’s goal and won their fourth consecutive game to surge four points clear at the top.
Seven rounds have passed since then — seven more wins for Inter.
Milan’s title ambitions are a distant dream and their fans depend on Inter beating Napoli to keep the Partenopei out of the top four.
Therefore Rossoneri fans are now cheering on the team they were born to hate — Truly il Diavolo.
To quote the great Michael Scott :
APRIL 2021 — THE NOW
Gattuso’s critics have been silenced in recent weeks. The Neopolitans have won six of their last eight, including a couple of crucial away wins over Roma and Milan, and now sit in fifth place — just two points adrift of the UCL spots.
It’s all about double digits for Inter. The Nerazzurri have opened up an eleven-point gap over Milan and merely avoiding defeat this weekend will see them go fifteen matches undefeated.
MODERN HISTORY LESSON
Napoli has finished higher than Inter in eight out of the past ten seasons. The Partenopei have averaged 75 league points per season, the Benemeata only 65.5 - a glaring difference of thirty-one more victories collectively achieved by Walter Mazzari, Rafa Benitez, Maurizio Sarri, Carlo Ancelotti and Gennaro Gattuso.
Napoli won four trophies in that time, lifting the Coppa Italia on three occasions and the Italian Super Cup once. But what matters most are domestic league titles, and Inter is going to win one either side of Napoli’s decade of domination (2009/10 and 2020/21).
MATCH DAY 31 PREVIEW
Seventy Million Euro summer signing, Victor Osimhen, played 90 minutes against Sampdoria and fired one in late to seal another valuable victory in regards to Napoli’s Champions League ambitions and could be problematic for Skriniar and De Vrij.
Hirving Lozano misses out through suspension, so former Interista Matteo Politano should be deployed down the right flank with Piotr Zielinski preferred to Napoli’s all-time leading scorer, Dries Mertens, for the trequartista role.
While Andrea Conte will almost certainly start the match with Lautaro Martinez and Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Andrea Pinamonti are useful off the bench while Gennaro Gattuso has the luxury of a fit Andrea Petagna to add some aerial pressure in the final minutes.
Inter Captain Samir Handanovic will be all-important once again while Napoli’s defensive fragility against top sides could be the game-changer. David Ospina is injured so Alex Meret will start in goal for Napoli.
Watch out for the battle of Diego Demme and Nicolò Barella in midfield. The contributions of Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Achraf Hakimi could also be a big factor.
Personally, I can’t wait for the tussle between Lukaku and Koulibaly.
Napoli is second in the league for most attacks from the left while Inter is first for attacks from the right, so we can expect each side to try to close down Insigne and Hakimi whenever possible. Both clubs have kept twelve clean sheets this season — more than any other team in the competition.
WIN-WIN FOR INTER FANS
One thing’s for sure — Inter fans can sleep easy. A loss against Napoli directly disadvantages Milan’s UCLQ hopes with Napoli the beneficiary at the Rossoneri’s expense.
But this is merely icing on the torta for Signor Zheng.
Preventing Juventus from winning ten consecutive Scudetti AND winning a nineteenth Serie A title to go ahead of Milan (eighteen) will also please Inter’s Chinese Chairman.
Give or take, his club only requires another thirteen points to win its first trophy since Jose Mourinho and Javier Zanetti lifted the Coppa Italia, Champions League and Serie A titles in 2010.
Victory for Napoli over Inter could see them enter the top four for the first time since Match Day 18, when they spanked Fiorentina 6–0. It all depends on what happens in Bergamo when Atalanta takes on Juventus.
But even if Koulibaly and Co. fail on Sunday night against Italy’s top team, Napoli’s toughest games from the remaining seven are against Lazio, Verona and Torino.
Napoli may require twenty of the remaining twenty-four league points to qualify for UCL.
The season is still young (enough). Inter could finish the season with a nineteen-game win streak.
If De Laurentis can break that seven-year jinx, Napoli fans may well be watching their team play Champions League football in 2021.
Make sure you watch the game, live at 19:45 GMT, Sunday April 18th.
Predicted Starting Elevens
NAPOLI (4–2–3–1) : Meret, Di Lorenzo, Mario Rui, Manolas, Koulibaly, Fabian Ruiz, Demme, Politano, Zielinski, Insigne ©, Osimhen
INTER (3–5–2) : Handanovic ©, Bastoni, De Vrij, Skriniar, Young, Hakimi, Barella, Brozovic, Eriksen, Lukaku, Martinez
Forza Serie A Sempre.
