Napoli head coach Walter Mazzarri has stressed a Champions League place is still attainable for the Serie A title-holders as they prepare to host Hellas Verona on Sunday.
After winning a first Scudetto in 33 years last season under Luciano Spalletti, the Partenopei have had a significant drop off in a 2023-24 campaign that saw new boss Rudi Garcia replaced by Mazzarri in November.
Their nine league games since then have comprised three wins, two draws and four losses, and they are currently ninth in the table, four points behind fourth place.
Asked at a press conference if the Champions League spots remained a realistic objective for Napoli, Mazzarri said: “I don’t look at the table for my own reasons.
“But it’s clear that there are many teams within three to four points, and therefore the objective is possible.”
Since starting the calendar year with a 3-0 loss at Torino, Napoli – still without star striker Victor Osimhen due to international duty with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations – have won 2-1 at home against Salernitana, beaten Fiorentina 3-0, lost 1-0 to AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana and drawn 0-0 at Lazio in their return to league action last weekend.
Mazzarri said: “In the last few games we created little, for various reasons, also due to the strength of the opponents, but we returned solid and balanced, after the very bad performance in Torino.
“It’s clear that we will need to be more aggressive and proactive to create scoring opportunities, perhaps even shooting from outside, because we can’t always enter the area with triangles and penetrations.
“This week we are also working on this aspect and I think we will see the results.”
Napoli face a Verona outfit who went into the weekend just outside the relegation zone, and who brought in a trio of players on transfer deadline day – Stefan Mitrovic, Karol Swiderski and Fabien Centonze.
Boss Marco Baroni told a press conference ahead of the trip to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona: “We need points, but we have to start from the performance.
“These are complicated and difficult stadiums, where we must not be afraid. We will have to play a match of personality, having great respect for the opponent.
“These are teams against which you have to be very careful within the performance. We will need to be compact, focused, and help each other on the pitch.”
Udinese 1-1 Napoli: Struggling Bianconeri grab last-gasp home draw
Napoli were held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-battling Udinese in Serie A on Monday after a stoppage-time goal by forward Isaac Success cancelled out a Victor Osimhen header.
Osimhen nodded home to give Napoli the lead in the 51st minute after Matteo Politano sent a lofted cross from the right into the middle of the box, and the Nigerian striker headed the ball in off the left post.
The Nigerian thought he doubled their advantage in the 80th minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside, before Success bundled in the leveller in stoppage time, netting from a Thomas Kristensen header.
Napoli moved up to eighth on 51 points from 35 games and are nine points behind both fifth-placed Atalanta and Roma, in sixth.
Data Debrief:
Osimhen is the third Napoli player to score in six matches in a row against a single team in Serie A in the three-points-for-a-win era, after Gonzalo Higuain against Lazio between 2013 and 2016 and Dries Mertens against Bologna between 2016 and 2019.
Despite fighting back to earn a point, Udinese have now failed to win three games under a new manager for the first time since August-September 2010 under Francesco Guidolin.
Crystal Palace 4-0 Manchester United: Olise stars as Eagles soar to thumping victory
Manchester United suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to a rampant Crystal Palace as the pressure piled on Erik ten Hag.
United were swatted aside with ease at Selhurst Park on Monday, with Michael Olise scoring twice in a superb performance from the Eagles, whose fantastic form under Oliver Glasner continued.
Olise opened the scoring early on before Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled Palace's lead before half-time – Tyrick Mitchell getting in on the act just prior to the hour.
Casemiro's calamitous error resulted in Olise hammering in a sublime long-range strike to compound United’s misery, and the eighth-placed Red Devils, who face Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday, are in real danger of missing out on the European places.
United's ramshackle defence was left exposed just 12 minutes in – Olise able to skip easily beyond Casemiro's shocking attempt at a challenge, drive into the box and, under little pressure, send a finish into the bottom-right corner.
Olise, who has been linked with a move to United, might have doubled his tally soon after, but Mateta could not get out of the way of his team-mate's goal-bound strike.
United seemed to have made their luck count when a goalmouth scramble resulted in the ball nestling into the back of Dean Henderson's net, but it was disallowed for Rasmus Hojlund's challenge on the Palace goalkeeper.
Olise squandered a brilliant chance to make it 2-0 when he elected to try and round Andre Onana at the other end, but the Eagles soon had their second when Mateta brilliantly slammed home from a tight angle after comfortably evading Jonny Evans.
Casemiro saw a goal ruled out for offside in the 53rd minute, but United's resolve was soon broken again as Palace swiftly reasserted their dominance.
Following two fine Onana saves, Mitchell tucked in from close range after United failed to clear their lines from a set-piece.
It was 4-0 in the 66th minute – Casemiro again at fault as he capitulated under pressure from Daniel Munoz. He teed up Olise, who curled a powerful effort down the centre of Onana’s goal to cap a famous win for Palace, who hit the woodwork late on through Odsonne Edouard.
Palace's perfect night
While the attention will rightly be on just how bad United were, plaudits have to go to Palace. They have now won four of their last five league matches, scoring 13 goals in that run, and it has included victories over Liverpool, Newcastle United and now Man United.
Palace may be destined for a mid-table finish this term, but there is a real sense of excitement around Selhurst Park ahead of next season, with Glasner's feet now firmly under the table.
The Eagles are now unbeaten in four straight home league matches against United, who they have completed the double over for the first time.
While Olise starred, Mateta's thumping second was a real highlight, too. He has scored in each of Glasner's first six home Premier League games, becoming the first player to do so in the competition since Alan Shearer for Kevin Keegan in 1996-97 (first nine).
Problems pile up for Ten Hag as United's season reaches a new low
Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes joined United’s lengthy injury list in the build-up to this match, but even with those absences, United's fragility exposed deeper-rooted issues than just injuries.
Their defending was truly terrible in the first half, with Olise offered the freedom of Selhurst Park for his opener, as Casemiro and Evans struggled to cope – Kobbie Mainoo and Christian Eriksen offering little protection ahead of them.
United have now shipped 81 goals in 48 games in all competitions this season, their most in a single campaign since 1976-77 (also 81).
With Arsenal, fellow European hopefuls Newcastle and then Brighton still to play, those defensive frailties are a scary proposition for Ten Hag, who cut a glum figure on the touchline, and his team’s hopes of qualifying European football through their league placing is now out of their hands, given Chelsea are now above them.
The players were applauded by the travelling support after the whistle, but there will need to be a huge reaction against Arsenal.
Terzic: Dortmund must improve on last week's performance to win at PSG
Borussia Dortmund have a 1-0 lead going into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at Paris Saint-Germain, but to win the tie they would need an improvement in their performance, coach Edin Terzic said on Monday.
Dortmund have never won at PSG in their previous three visits, and their last match at the Parc des Princes ended in a 2-0 loss during the group stage in September.
"We showed a good game last week, which gave us that little lead. But that performance probably won't be enough to get us into the final," Terzic told reporters ahead of Tuesday's match.
"We have to do everything together tomorrow, with a good plan, with a good idea. Paris will certainly do better than last week. We want to earn this ticket to the final. We'll tackle that together tomorrow."
Terzic also noted the improvement in his side since September's loss, saying: "We hadn't really found ourselves yet. We lacked courage in many areas. In the two games in Dortmund, we then showed that we can play very differently against PSG.
Dortmund held PSG in December in their second group-stage match before beating them on May 1.
"They have a mission, we have a huge dream... there are enough things we have to do better because they will do better," Terzic said.
"Part of the success was bringing that intensity onto the pitch. If we need to, we'll run another 20 kilometres."
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