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They both qualified for the defeat of Az. The Basques have almost always had the ball but they only scored in the final. Zielinski scored for Naples
As Deng said, it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, the important thing is that it catches the mouse. And Napoli caught the mouse. 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad (who scored in recovery with Willian José) and qualification for the round of 32 of the Europa League with first place in the group. A complicated group, especially due to the presence of the Basques who are second in La Liga and also finished second in the group as Az lost 2-1 in Rijeka against Rijeka and was eliminated. Given the result of Rijeka-Az, the match in Naples was completely useless.
Gattuso can still celebrate his year with Napoli in the best possible way. It’s not that passing the lap is a feat, but in football it’s always good not to take anything for granted. And then, given the long squad, it’s good for Napoli to be as busy as possible on various fronts to avoid further discontent in the locker room.
Tonight’s game reaffirms a concept: when Napoli let their opponents play, the result is always satisfactory. It happened several times last year, especially in the Italian Cup. And it has happened twice with Real Sociedad: gone and tonight. In the first leg, Napoli won 1-0. Tonight it was 1-0 until recovery. Then it ended 1-1, a draw that changes nothing.
Throughout the 90 minutes, the Basques certainly have excellent dribbling properties, but they did not frame the goal even when they found themselves two meters away with the net open and the goalkeeper hit. As it happened to Portu in the first half, at 0-0. If you don’t score, it’s difficult to win games. More than 60% of ball possession is useless.
A shot on goal with Zielinski was enough for Napoli to score and close out the game.
Gattuso lined up Lozano with Mertens and Insigne. Fabian, Zielinski and Bakayoko. The Azzurri have rightly chosen to wait for the Basques. Gattuso’s team can also complain about a very dubious intervention by the last man on Lozano, at 0-0. At normal speed, the intervention appears on the ball. Repetition, on the other hand, shows the opposite. It would have been a last foul and expulsion. And on the other hand, Napoli also suffers the mockery of the warning to Mertens. The best Italian action was in the recovery, but without the shot on goal.
Good performance from Koulibaly. As well as that of Ospina. We haven’t seen much of Mertens, but Napoli did a waiting game.
Napoli have shown solidity and in February they will be able to restart the race in a competition that too often, erroneously, has been snubbed in these parts.
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