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Napoli puts everything on the line against reigning World Champions Chelsea to avoid the risk of elimination. Major emergency for Antonio Conte’s men, who are called upon to pull off a feat to get back among the top 24 in the Champions League.
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Chelsea, on the other hand, is under less pressure and already qualified, but needs to defend its Top 8 position, which it can secure by winning and keeping an eye on goal difference.
Click on the match card to follow the game minute by minute.
🤞 LUKAKU ON
10 minutes plus stoppage time: Conte turns to Big Rom Lukaku to try to get back in front with the goal that would mean qualification.
😮 JOAO PEDRO OUT OF NOWHERE: UNSTOPPABLE MISSILE
In a generally quiet phase of the match, Joao Pedro scores an incredible goal: a quick move from outside the box to get the ball onto his left foot and a rocket from way out into the top corner.
🚀 BOOM HOJLUND, NAPOLI TURNS IT AROUND
Napoli turns it around just before the end of the first half: brilliant play by Elmas who finds Olivera on the wing. Cross in and Hojlund, like a true poacher, beats the entire Blues defense to the near post. Napoli is alive and has overturned the situation.
😍 INCREDIBLE MAGIC FROM VERGARA: NAPOLI EQUALIZES
Napoli equalizes with a sensational goal from Antonio Vergara: the Napoli talent recovers the ball 25 meters out, dribbles past Fofana with a spin move and beats Sanchez with his left. Incredible goal.
A thrilling moment for Vergara, a Napoli academy product who is emerging through adversity.
❗ CHELSEA PENALTY: JUAN JESUS HAND BALL IN THE WALL
From an innocuous Chelsea free kick in the 17th minute, a penalty is awarded to Chelsea. Juan Jesus, in the wall, extends his arm and touches the ball. The analysis, confirmed by Gianpaolo Calvarese, identifies Juan Jesus’s movement as the cause of the penalty.
Enzo Fernandez steps up and scores, sending Meret the wrong way despite the keeper guessing the direction.
😅 NAPOLI SCARE: MCTOMINAY ALMOST SCORES WITH HIS FACE
In the 6th minute, Napoli comes close to taking the lead: McTominay presses Sanchez, who, in trying to clear, hits the Scot in the face, and he nearly scores a bizarre goal.
😮 VERGARA-BUONGIORNO COLLISION DURING WARM-UP: CRAZY RISK
Huge scare for Napoli during the pre-match warm-up. As reported by Alessandro Alciato on Prime Video, in a collision between Antonio Vergara and Alessandro Buongiorno, the former Reggiana talent came away in pain and grimaced for a few minutes. Fortunately, he was fine afterward.
‼️ WORDS FROM MERET AND MANNA
Giovanni Manna, Napoli’s sporting director, spoke to Prime Video about the clash with Chelsea.
"For us, it’s a crucial match even though out of 8 games, today is not the decider, even if it could be. The stadium transforms during Champions League week, and we’ll give it our all. The Champions League is an economic factor, but today that’s not the main thing: we deserve to go through for our prestige and for what the boys are doing."
Transfer market? Unfortunately, this window is complicated for us due to restrictions. We’ll try to extend the squad to help the coach. Sterling is available? Yes, I know."
Manna then added on Sky.
"Alisson Santos? He’s a player we like, that’s already out there. He’s a player with quality and flair, let’s see what happens in the coming days."
Alex Meret, Napoli’s goalkeeper, spoke to Prime Video before the match with Chelsea. Here are his words:
"It’s not an easy period, we have many injuries and few substitutes. Fatigue is setting in, but we know we can do well. Tonight is an important match and we’ll give everything to try and secure qualification."
✅ OFFICIAL LINEUPS
NAPOLI (3-4-2-1): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Juan Jesus; Spinazzola, Lobotka, McTominay, Olivera; Vergara, Elmas; Hojlund.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, James, Fofana; Cucurella; Caicedo, Andrey Santos; Estevao, Enzo, Neto; Joao Pedro.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
